Choose upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

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

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Related Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min read

NEW YORK -- A choose concluded Friday that there was enough 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 identical crime and she will only 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 extensive witness testimony and documentary proof at a one-month trial that concluded in December.

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

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage ladies 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 five counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts have been duplicates of the third.

“This authorized conclusion in no way calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Slightly, it underscores that the jury unanimously discovered — three times 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 five to three was not anticipated to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell may face a sentence ranging from several years to decades in prison.

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

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 child even though he had not revealed that truth in response to questions on prior intercourse abuse posed in a written questionnaire.

The juror had stated he “skimmed manner too fast” through the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the improper reply to a question about intercourse abuse.

In refusing to toss the decision, Nathan stated the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection course of was extremely unlucky, but not deliberate.

The choose additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and will 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.