Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A judge concluded Friday that there was enough proof to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking girls 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 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 in depth witness testimony and documentary evidence at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Legal professionals for Maxwell had asked her to reject the verdict on multiple grounds, together with inadequate evidence.

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

Nathan stated that she'll only 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 authorized conclusion under no circumstances calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Reasonably, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — thrice over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from five to a few was not expected to have much effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence ranging from a number of years to decades in jail.

Attorneys for Maxwell didn't return messages requesting remark. Prosecutors declined remark.

Earlier this month, the choose 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 though he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed means too quick” via the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the flawed reply to a query about sex abuse.

In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan mentioned the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse in the course of the jury selection process was extremely unfortunate, however not deliberate.

The choose 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 personal life in a federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a intercourse trafficking trial.