Choose upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge has concluded there was enough evidence to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A judge concluded Friday that there was sufficient evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking ladies for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, however she also gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she will be able to solely be sentenced for one.

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

Attorneys for Maxwell had requested her to reject the verdict on multiple grounds, including insufficient proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women 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 legal conclusion by no means calls into query the factual findings made by the jury. Rather, it underscores that the jury unanimously discovered — 3 times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and site visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to three was not expected to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence starting from a number of years to a long time in prison.

Lawyers for Maxwell did not return messages requesting remark. Prosecutors declined remark.

Earlier this month, the decide refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to other jurors throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby despite the fact that he had not revealed that truth in response to questions on prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed approach too fast” through the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the improper answer to a question about intercourse abuse.

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

The choose 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 intercourse trafficking trial.