Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

A trial decide 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 evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she additionally gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she can solely be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan stated in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts were “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 decision on multiple 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 five counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts have been duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion by no means calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Fairly, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — three times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from 5 to a few was not expected to have much effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from several years to a long time in jail.

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

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

The juror had stated he “skimmed method too fast” through the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the wrong answer to a query about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan said the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse throughout the jury choice process was highly unlucky, but not deliberate.

The choose additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could 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 sex trafficking trial.