Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial choose has concluded there was sufficient proof to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated 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 authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she can only be sentenced for one.

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

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

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage girls 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 were duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion in no way calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Rather, it underscores that the jury unanimously discovered — thrice over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and traffic underage ladies for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

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

Attorneys for Maxwell did not return messages requesting remark. Prosecutors declined comment.

Earlier this month, the judge 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 child although he had not revealed that fact in response to questions on prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

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

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

The decide also 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.