Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge has concluded there was sufficient evidence to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A choose concluded Friday that there was sufficient evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, however she additionally gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she will solely be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Decide Alison J. Nathan mentioned in her written ruling that the jury’s guilty verdicts have been “readily supported” by extensive witness testimony and documentary evidence at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Attorneys for Maxwell had requested her to reject the verdict on a number of grounds, together with inadequate proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.

Nathan said that she'll solely sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the five counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts had been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion under no circumstances calls into query the factual findings made by the jury. Fairly, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — thrice over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage ladies for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to 3 was not expected to have a lot impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence ranging from a number of years to decades in jail.

Attorneys for Maxwell did not return messages requesting comment. Prosecutors declined remark.

Earlier this month, the decide refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to different jurors during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby despite the fact that he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed way too quick” by the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the incorrect answer to a question about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan said the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse throughout the jury choice process was highly unfortunate, however not deliberate.

The judge additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and will function a fair and impartial juror.”

Maxwell, arrested in July 2020, has remained incarcerated. Epstein was 66 when he took his own life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.