A British dad has revealed how he was captured by the FBI while on holiday to Disney World.

Jimmy Maxwell subsequently spent years in US jails after he was held by US Marshalls and FBI officers.

The dad's partner, Claire, was waiting for him at Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida.

But Jimmy, who landed with his eight-year-old son and 13-year-old son, was arrested after a UK Serious and Organised Crime Agency tip-off.

He told our sister title the Manchester Evening News : "They took me off the plane in front of my kids and said I was under arrest.

"They told my family to wait outside the airport.

"When I walked out at 11pm they had my legs shackled and chains around my waist.

"My kids ran up to me shouting 'dad, dad' and they put me in a car - they wanted them to see that.

"I told the kids to go back to England and let the family know what had happened to me.

"I thought I'd be out in about two to three weeks."

SOCA later flew a witness, an inmate at a UK jail, out to the US to testify against Jimmy.

Five days into his trial he changed his plea to guilty, admitting being involved in the supply of tens of thousands of ecstasy pills to the US.

He was given a 22-year prison sentence.

The sentence came after a life of crime.

He spent seven years of that time in violent, crowded, racially divided US jails across the US.

Having serving another five years of his sentence in the UK he's now a free man - and he's on a mission to keep some of Manchester 's most hardened criminals from spending their lives in and out of jail.

US prisons are typically divided into gangs along racial lines, but convicted drug trafficker Jimmy (back row, second from right) made friends across divides

Born and raised on Shrewsbury Street in Old Trafford , crime - Jimmy says - felt like a necessity.

"I grew up in a one-parent family, no money and debt collectors knocking the house every week," the 44-year-old, who now lives in Hale, said.

"I decided one day I am going to try and provide for the family - for my mum and brothers. I took the role of a dad."

The route he took was burglary, armed robbery, and eventually drug trafficking - although he never used drugs himself.

"All I ever wanted was for my kids to grow up not having to go through what I did," the father-of-four said.  

"I wanted to offer them an opportunity, so I could break the cycle of having nothing. Crime is not part of their life. If I had to sacrifice myself to give them an opportunity so be it."

America's tough justice and mass incarceration policies mean many have no hope of getting out of jail alive

If he wanted confirmation that the cycle was broken he got it from one of his sons when he returned from being incarcerated in America.

"The first thing he said to me after all those years  was 'I hope you are ashamed of yourself'. He had done his family tree at school and seen his dad was a drug dealer. I didn't feel sad. I just thought, 'listen, what I've done is to give you a chance'."


Recalling the moment a judge gave him 22 years he said: "The first thing I thought about was my kids. I thought 'what the f*** are they going to do without me?'"

"It was probably the worst situation I have been in in my life. Degrading. Sometimes in the prisons there were no cells - sixty people sleeping on a floor", Jimmy says of his time in the U.S system.

"If you needed a toilet you had to knock someone's door and ask if you could use a toilet. The food was awful. I have watched people go in weighing 16-and-a-half stone and come out weighing eight stone."

"Some of the county jails were the worst - no TVs, no radios. In some you don't even see daylight, no windows, nothing.

"I didn't fit in. There were no other English, just me. No one ever started on me. I don't like bullies.

"When I first went to prison - the main one -  it was divided and we are not used to that - white people eat on that table, black people on that table, and Mexicans over there. Black phones, white phones, black cells, white cells, and separate TV rooms."


Jimmy survived - going wherever he wanted, snuffing out any attempt to pressure or intimidate him, living for the email he got every day from his partner, Claire.

"I kept in touch with Claire and the kids every day - I might have been in America but my mind was at home", he says.

He also had to endure several prison lockdowns - often lasting months - after fights. This meant no showers, or laundry, being confined to a cell, and brown bag lunches.

He spent time in prisons in Florida, Texas, New York, and Arkansas alongside men serving such long sentences they had no hope of leaving alive.

Follow James Rodger on social media




Jimmy tried three times to get transferred back to the UK and failed. Finally he was allowed back and spent another five years in the British prison system.

"I was returned to Wandsworth prison and thought 'God, now I am going to get to see my family'. But after five hours in reception they said they had to put me in segregation. They said they couldn't house me as I was a Category A prisoner."

He was sent to Belmarsh Prison but did not see his family for another two months while he was 'vetted' by the authorities.

"While I was inside I saw that you had to do this course before you could go to this prison, and that course - it was like ticking boxes to go through the system. You get to an open prison and they put people out with nothing.

"They say they are trying to give people the chance to reform themselves - but there is a gap there."

British embassies in the US


Help for British nationals arrested abroad

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) or the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate can give advice on local laws and procedures, contact friends and provide a list of lawyers and translators.

The person arrested or detained should contact the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate as soon as possible - the police might also do this on their behalf.

The British embassy, high commission or consulate will aim to contact the arrested person as soon as possible after being told about their arrest or detention. The consulate will then aim to provide assistance according to the individual circumstances and local conditions.

The British consulate will also arrange for friends and family to be told:

  • the person’s been arrested
  • details of the arrest
  • contact details for the arrested person

The FCO can only give out this information if the arrested person has given their permission.

Help available

The FCO and British consulate can offer help to arrested persons or prisoners. This includes:

  • providing general information about the country, prison conditions and the local legal system (including if legal aid is available)
  • providing a list of local lawyers and interpreters
  • telling the police or prison doctor about any medical or dental problems with the arrested person’s permission
  • helping with complaints about the police or prison (eg, ill treatment, personal safety, discrimination) with the arrested person or prisoner’s permission
  • sending money to the arrested person from their family
  • sending messages between the arrested person and their family
  • putting the prisoners in touch with the charity Prisoners Abroad
  • helping British prisoners apply for a transfer to UK where possible
  • visiting prisoners when needed

What the FCO and British consulate can’t do

The FCO and British consulate won’t be able to:

  • get someone out of prison or detention
  • help someone get special treatment
  • offer legal advice, start legal proceedings or investigate a crime
  • pay for any costs as a result of being arrested
  • forward packages sent by friends or family to an arrested person or prisoner
  • prevent authorities from deporting a British national after release