Judge 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 read

NEW YORK -- A decide concluded Friday that there was sufficient proof to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking women for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but 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 Choose Alison J. Nathan mentioned in her written ruling that the jury’s responsible verdicts have been “readily supported” by extensive witness testimony and documentary proof at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

Attorneys for Maxwell had requested her to reject the verdict on a number of grounds, including insufficient evidence.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women 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 in no way 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 traffic underage girls for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to three was not anticipated to have a lot effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence starting from several years to many years in jail.

Lawyers 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 other jurors during jury deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a baby even 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 means too quick” by means of the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the incorrect answer to a question about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan mentioned the juror’s failure to reveal his prior sexual abuse in the course of the jury choice process was highly unlucky, however not deliberate.

The choose additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could serve as a good 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 sex trafficking trial.