Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated 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 sex trafficking ladies for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she also gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she can solely be sentenced for one.

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

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

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

Nathan stated 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 legal conclusion in no way calls into question 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 visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from five to three was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence starting from several years to many years in prison.

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

Earlier this month, the decide 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 fact in response to questions on prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed method too fast” through the questionnaire and didn't deliberately give the incorrect answer to a query about sex abuse.

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

The decide additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards 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.