Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min read

NEW YORK -- A decide 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 additionally gave Maxwell a authorized victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the identical crime and she will be able to solely be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan mentioned 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.

Legal professionals for Maxwell had requested 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 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 discovered — 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 three was not expected to have much effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence ranging from a number of years to a long time in prison.

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

Earlier this month, the judge refused to toss out Maxwell's conviction after a juror disclosed to other jurors during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a toddler though 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 way too quick” by the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the improper reply to a query about intercourse abuse.

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

The judge additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward 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 intercourse trafficking trial.