{"id":65316,"date":"2025-08-15T18:09:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T22:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=65316"},"modified":"2025-08-15T18:09:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T22:09:06","slug":"part-ii-so-who-engineered-ghislaines-prison-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=65316","title":{"rendered":"Part II. So who engineered Ghislaine’s prison move?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that I’ve expressed my opinion on the Ghislaine prisons,<\/a> I have a few ideas about how it could have happened.<\/p>\n

The big thing to understand is how autocratic the Federal Bureau of Prisons is. (Or was.) <\/a>Once you get that, one person stands at the top: the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She or he would be able to effect this kind of transfer against all the rules, regulations and proprieties of the BoP.<\/p>\n

So who is now at the top of the hierarchy? A guy named William K. Marshall III. Impressive name, with those III at the end. It turns out there is quite a lot to know about this man, called “Billy” by his pals and supporters.<\/p>\n

When was he appointed? April 2025. This year. Who appointed him? The BoP Director is not nominated by the president, nor is he subject to Senate confirmation. It was Pam Bondi who put Billy in charge of the Bureau of Prisons, though Trump did grab the mike to make the announcement. (It’s really all Donny wants to do, be on mike and on video.)<\/p>\n

In keeping with so so many of Trump’s people, Billy is just barely qualified.<\/a><\/p>\n

His entire working life has been spent primarily in law enforcement (he was a state cop) in…West Virginia. A couple of years ago, he moved into running the West Virginia prison system, somewhat smaller than the Federal BofP (10,000 inmates compared to 150,000). Moreover, as the non-profit Marshall Project tells us, things didn’t go too smoothly for Billy:<\/p>\n

\n

The state\u2019s regional jails have come under scrutiny for squalid conditions, excessive use of force and record numbers of deaths.<\/a> They were the target of several civil rights suits, including one filed in 2022 that alleged<\/a> the jail had broken toilets infested with maggots, 70 people sharing a single shower, and people being forced to sleep on \u201ccold, wet floors in the winter without heat.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In response to such allegations, Marshall said \u201cinmates made up claims of inhumane treatment and told relatives to spread them,\u201d a local television news station reported at the time<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just the kind of guy we — I mean, Trump — wants at the BoP. Someone who makes up stuff and is then sanctioned by a judge.<\/p>\n

Lydia Milnes, an attorney who has sued West Virginia\u2019s corrections department several times, expressed worries about Marshall\u2019s appointment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned that he comes from a past where the culture is to use force to gain control as opposed to considering less violent alternatives,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has continued to foster a culture of using excessive force.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But hey, Billy’s lack of, I dunno, attractiveness for the position fits in nicely among the astonishingly inferior Trumpian agency directors.<\/p>\n

His deputy director, however, is something else again.<\/p>\n

Meet Joshua J. Smith, lookin’ jolly on the BoP website home, when he offers a welcoming message (welcoming himself, I mean) to the correctional staff of the BoP.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

You probably won’t want to watch and listen to the whole earnest, stodgy thing. You might very well press “pause” when Josh tells us he’s had 30 years experience in prisons — five of them when he himself was an inmate!<\/p>\n

Here’s Josh’s bio via Perplexity. I’ve bolded a couple of references, just to enhance your reaction:<\/p>\n

Joshua J. Smith is the current Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), making history as the first formerly incarcerated person to serve at this level within the agency. Smith,<\/strong> a Tennessee businessman, was convicted of federal drug offenses at age 21, after facing 10 felony convictions by age 16, and served a five-year sentence at a federal prison camp in Kentucky<\/strong>. Raised by a single mother in public housing, Smith dropped out of high school and entered prison as an 11th-grade dropout. During his incarceration, he embraced Christianity<\/strong> and was mentored by other inmates, including those convicted of white-collar crimes, who educated him on finance and entrepreneurship.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After his release in 2003, Smith started Master Dry, a basement waterproofing company in Knoxville, which eventually expanded and was sold in 2019, reportedly netting him at least $8million. He used these funds to establish the Fourth Purpose Foundation, a nonprofit focused on inmate advocacy and rehabilitation. Smith became a prominent advocate for prison reform, even mentoring inmates and teaching business classes to other prisoners, including those at the facility where he was once incarcerated.<\/em><\/p>\n

In January 2021, President Donald Trump granted Smith a full pardon.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n

So, probably one of these dudes OKed Ghislaine Maxwell’s move. Just a guess, but do you think there was a call from someone in what passes for our federal government nowadays?<\/p>\n

For fun, you could envision Billy and Josh fighting over who got to sign the paperwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that I’ve expressed my opinion on the Ghislaine prisons, I have a few ideas about how it could have happened. The big thing to understand is how autocratic the Federal Bureau of Prisons is. (Or was.) Once you get … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1175],"tags":[11415,11411,5895,11413,11416,10934,11414,1172,11412],"class_list":["post-65316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-facts-of-life","tag-alcatraz","tag-director-federal-bureau-of-prisons","tag-ghislaine-maxwell","tag-joshua-j-smith-deputy-director-federal-bureau-of-prisons","tag-pam-bondi","tag-perplexity","tag-the-marshall-project","tag-trump","tag-william-k-marshall-iii"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t