Choose upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A choose concluded Friday that there was sufficient evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking women 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 solely be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan stated in her written ruling that the jury’s guilty verdicts were “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 insufficient proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage girls 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 had been duplicates of the third.

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

The reduction of counts from 5 to a few was not expected to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence starting 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 decide 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 baby regardless that he had not revealed that fact in response to questions on prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had stated he “skimmed means too quick” via the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the mistaken answer to a question about intercourse abuse.

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

The judge also concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could function a fair and neutral 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.