Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

A trial judge 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 decide concluded Friday that there was sufficient proof to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking ladies for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, however she additionally gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she will be able to only be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge 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 proof 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 evidence.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage ladies 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 five counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts were duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion by no means calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Fairly, it underscores that the jury unanimously discovered — thrice over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and traffic underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from five to 3 was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from a number of years to many years in jail.

Attorneys 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 different jurors throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a child though he had not revealed that reality in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed method too fast” via the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the improper answer to a query about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan stated the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse through the jury choice course of was highly unfortunate, however not deliberate.

The choose additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards 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 own life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a intercourse trafficking trial.