Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

A trial choose has concluded there was sufficient evidence to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

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

U.S. District Decide Alison J. Nathan stated in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts had been “readily supported” by in depth 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 multiple grounds, together with insufficient evidence.

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

Nathan stated that she'll solely sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the 5 counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts were duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Somewhat, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — thrice over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and site visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to a few was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence starting from several years to decades in prison.

Legal professionals for Maxwell did not return messages requesting remark. Prosecutors declined remark.

Earlier this month, the judge 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 toddler regardless that he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed manner too quick” through the questionnaire and didn't deliberately give the flawed answer to a query about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan said the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse throughout the jury selection course of was highly unfortunate, however not deliberate.

The choose additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and will serve as a good and neutral 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.