Choose upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge has concluded there was enough proof to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A choose concluded Friday that there was sufficient proof 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 be able to only be sentenced for one.

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

Lawyers for Maxwell had requested her to reject the decision on a number of grounds, together with inadequate 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 had been duplicates of the third.

“This legal conclusion under no circumstances calls into query the factual findings made by the jury. Quite, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — thrice over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and traffic underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from 5 to 3 was not expected to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence starting from several years to decades in jail.

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 during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby despite the fact that he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had mentioned he “skimmed way too quick” by way of the questionnaire and did not deliberately give the improper reply to a question about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan said the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection course of was extremely unfortunate, but not deliberate.

The judge additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could serve as 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 intercourse trafficking trial.