Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A decide concluded Friday that there was sufficient evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking girls 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 solely be sentenced for one.

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

Legal professionals for Maxwell had asked her to reject the verdict on a number of 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 only sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the 5 counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts had been duplicates of the third.

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

The discount of counts from 5 to three was not anticipated to have much effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from several years to a long time in prison.

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 during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby though 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 means too fast” through the questionnaire and didn't deliberately give the flawed reply to a question about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan stated the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse through the jury choice process was extremely unlucky, but not deliberate.

The judge also concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and will function a good and neutral 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 intercourse trafficking trial.