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 Associated 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 girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, however she also gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she will be able to only be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Decide Alison J. Nathan said in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible 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 decision on multiple grounds, together with inadequate proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage ladies 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 authorized conclusion on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Somewhat, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — three times over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

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

Legal professionals for Maxwell didn't return messages requesting comment. Prosecutors declined comment.

Earlier this month, the judge refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to different jurors throughout jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a toddler despite the fact 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 approach too fast” via the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the improper reply to a query about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan said the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse through the jury selection process was extremely unfortunate, however not deliberate.

The judge also concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards 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 personal life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a intercourse trafficking trial.