Choose upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial judge 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 choose concluded Friday that there was enough evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, however she additionally gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she can solely be sentenced for one.

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

Lawyers for Maxwell had requested her to reject the decision on multiple grounds, together with inadequate proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage women 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 5 counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts had been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Moderately, it underscores that the jury unanimously discovered — 3 times over — that the Defendant is responsible of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and visitors underage women for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The reduction of counts from 5 to 3 was not expected to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence ranging from a number of years to a long time in jail.

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

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 despite the fact that he had not revealed that truth in response to questions on prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had said he “skimmed way too quick” by means of the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the mistaken answer to a question about sex abuse.

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

The decide additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias toward the defendant and will function a good 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.