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 read

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

U.S. District Choose Alison J. Nathan said in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts had been “readily supported” by intensive 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 a number of grounds, together with insufficient evidence.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.

Nathan stated 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 have been duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion in no way calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Relatively, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 3 times 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 five to 3 was not anticipated to have a lot impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence ranging from a number of years to many years in prison.

Attorneys for Maxwell did not return messages requesting comment. 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 despite the fact that he had not revealed that truth in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had stated he “skimmed manner too fast” via the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the fallacious reply to a query about intercourse abuse.

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

The decide also concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could function a good 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.