Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

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

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

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

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

Nathan mentioned 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 have been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion on no account calls into query the factual findings made by the jury. Reasonably, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 3 times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and traffic underage ladies for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to three was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence starting from several years to a long time in jail.

Lawyers for Maxwell didn't return messages requesting comment. Prosecutors declined remark.

Earlier this month, the choose refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to other jurors during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby although 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 manner too fast” by way of the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the wrong answer to a question about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan mentioned the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse through the jury choice course of was extremely unfortunate, but not deliberate.

The decide also concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could serve as 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.