Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min read

NEW YORK -- A judge concluded Friday that there was sufficient proof to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she also gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she will only be sentenced for one.

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

Lawyers for Maxwell had asked her to reject the decision on multiple grounds, together with insufficient proof.

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

Nathan mentioned that she'll only sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the 5 counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts have been duplicates of the third.

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

The reduction of counts from five to a few was not anticipated to have a lot impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence ranging from several years to decades in jail.

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

Earlier this month, the choose refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to different jurors throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby even though he had not revealed that truth in response to questions on prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed approach too quick” through the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the fallacious answer to a query about intercourse abuse.

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

The judge additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and could 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 intercourse trafficking trial.