Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

A trial decide has concluded there was sufficient 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 enough proof to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking women 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 solely 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 extensive witness testimony and documentary evidence at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Attorneys for Maxwell had asked 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 mentioned 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 had been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Quite, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 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 effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence starting from several years to a long time in prison.

Lawyers for Maxwell didn't return messages requesting remark. Prosecutors declined remark.

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 regardless that he had not revealed that truth in response to questions about prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed method too fast” by the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the incorrect answer to a question about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, 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 decide additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward 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 personal life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.