Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related 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, but she additionally gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she can only be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan mentioned in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts were “readily supported” by intensive 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, including insufficient proof.

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

Nathan said 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 had been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion by no means calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Slightly, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 3 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 5 to three was not expected to have a lot effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from several years to decades in jail.

Legal professionals for Maxwell didn't 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 throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a toddler although he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed way too fast” by the questionnaire and did not deliberately give the unsuitable reply to a query about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan stated the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse in the course of the jury selection process was highly unlucky, but not deliberate.

The decide also concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and will serve as a fair 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 sex trafficking trial.