Decide upholds Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse trafficking conviction

A trial decide has concluded there was sufficient evidence to convict Ghislaine Maxwell of intercourse trafficking

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

29 April 2022, 22:26

• 3 min learn

NEW YORK -- A decide 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 also gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she will only be sentenced for one.

U.S. District Judge 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.

Legal professionals for Maxwell had requested her to reject the verdict on a number of grounds, including insufficient proof.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage ladies 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 authorized conclusion on no account calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Fairly, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — 3 times over — that the Defendant is guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and site visitors underage girls for sexual abuse,” Nathan wrote.

The discount of counts from five to 3 was not expected to have much impact on the sentencing, when Maxwell might face a sentence starting from a number of years to a long time 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 toddler 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 way too fast” by means of the questionnaire and didn't intentionally give the incorrect answer to a query about sex abuse.

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

The decide additionally concluded the juror “harbored no bias towards the defendant and could function a good 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 intercourse trafficking trial.