Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 2 years ago • 12 commentsBy: Associated Press By The Associated Press
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
NEW YORK — A judge concluded Friday that there was enough evidence to convict British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell of sex trafficking girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, but she also gave Maxwell a legal victory by concluding that three conspiracy counts charged the same crime and she can only be sentenced for one.
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan said in her written ruling that the jury's guilty verdicts were "readily supported" by extensive witness testimony and documentary evidence at a one-month trial that concluded in December.
Lawyers for Maxwell had asked her to reject the verdict on multiple grounds, including insufficient evidence.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted of recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse from 1994 to 2004.
Nathan said that she'll only sentence Maxwell in late June on three of the five counts she was convicted on after concluding that two conspiracy counts were duplicates of the third.
"This legal conclusion in no way calls into question the factual findings made by the jury. Rather, it underscores that the jury unanimously found — three times over — that the Defendant is guilty 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 expected to have much effect on the sentencing, when Maxwell could face a sentence ranging from several years to decades in prison.
Lawyers for Maxwell did not return messages requesting comment. Prosecutors declined comment.
Earlier this month, the judge 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 child even though he had not revealed that fact in response to questions about prior sex abuse posed in a written questionnaire.
The juror had said he "skimmed way too fast" through the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the wrong answer to a question about sex abuse.
In refusing to toss the verdict, Nathan said the juror's failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate.
The judge also concluded the juror "harbored no bias toward the defendant and could serve as a fair 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 sex trafficking trial.
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Good...
Pretty sure that a guy named Donald played a huge role as well.
LOCK HIM UP!
It’s too bad that the federal prosecutor didn’t agree with you.
Pretty sure you have absolutely nothing in the way of proof to support your theory.
So, when is Bill gonna be brought to trial - along with the other big "D" perpetrators?
The Teflon is strong with that one...
Just as soon as trump and Bill Barr are.
Yep...Bubba Billy was a frequent flyer on the Lolita Express.
Yeah, maybe he and Ken Starr had some laughs.
Yeah - Bill 26 logged in rides -
Ken Starr 2 logged in rides - Starr's association with Epstein appears to have begun in 2007 when he joined the team defending the financier. The Palm Beach Post reported on September 12, 2007 that Starr had been brought to Palm Beach, Florida by private jet to discuss Epstein's defense.
And, it doesn't "expose" him for having gone to the island - just that he was Epstein's defense attorney.
Starr's biggest role was getting the 13 month sentence - Bill's biggest role was bagging as many females as he could.
Huge difference.
Guess ol' Billy wins again, eh?
And you have proof or links?
or just an overactive partisan imagination?