Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge has concluded there was enough proof to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related 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 intercourse trafficking ladies for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she additionally 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 mentioned 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.

Legal professionals for Maxwell had asked her to reject the verdict on multiple grounds, together with insufficient proof.

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

Nathan mentioned 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 on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Reasonably, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 3 times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to 3 was not anticipated to have a lot impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from a number of years to decades in prison.

Attorneys for Maxwell did not 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 during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a child although 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” through the questionnaire and did not deliberately give the improper answer to a query about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan said the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse in the course of the jury selection course of was highly unlucky, however not deliberate.

The judge additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and will function a good 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.