Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min read

NEW YORK -- A choose concluded Friday that there was sufficient 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 Judge Alison J. Nathan said in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts were “readily supported” by in depth witness testimony and documentary evidence at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Legal professionals for Maxwell had requested her to reject the decision on a number of grounds, together with inadequate evidence.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women 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 five 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 query the factual findings made by the jury. Reasonably, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — three times over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and site visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from five to three was not expected to have a lot effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence ranging from a number of years to decades in prison.

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

Earlier this month, the judge 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 child although he had not revealed that truth in response to questions on prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed manner too fast” through the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the fallacious reply to a question about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan mentioned the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse through the jury selection process was extremely unfortunate, however 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 personal life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.