Ghislaine Maxwell loses case to overturn sex trafficking conviction – but gets maximum sentence reduced to 10 years | US News
Ghislaine Maxwell failed in her attempt to overturn a sex trafficking conviction, paving the way for her to be sentenced to decades in prison.
Attorney for British social page asked a judge to overturn the ruling for a variety of reasons, including insufficient evidence.
Maxwell is December was found guilty of recruiting underage girls sexually abused by American financier Jeffrey Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
In a written ruling, New York County Judge Alison Nathan said the jury’s guilty verdicts were “ready supported” by witness testimony and documentary evidence at trial.
However, the judge said she would only sentence 60-year-old Maxwell on three of the five counts for which she was convicted.
The judge said three of the charges in effect included the same offence, so only one of the three guilty verdicts was upheld.
It reduced Maxwell’s maximum possible sentence from 10 years to 55 years in prison, according to Reuters.
Judge Nathan wrote: “This legal conclusion in no way calls into question the factual findings made by the jury.
“Instead, it highlights that the jury unanimously found – threefold – that defendant was guilty of conspiring with Epstein to entice, transport, and traffic underage girls for the purpose of abuse.” sex.”
Maxwell – the daughter of late newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell – will be sentenced on June 28.
Earlier this month, the judge refuses to give Maxwell’s convictions after a juror revealed he had been sexually abused as a child.
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: US Department of Justice
The jury failed to disclose that fact during pre-trial screening in response to questions about previous sexual abuse posed in a written questionnaire.
The juror said he “skimmed too quickly” through the questionnaire and did not intentionally give the wrong answer.
In his ruling, Judge Nathan said the juror’s failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the selection process was regrettable but not intentional.
Read more:
How girls were lured and abused by Jeffrey Epstein
Who is in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal?
The judge also concluded the juror “has no prejudice against the defendant and can serve as a fair and objective juror”.
Maxwell, who was arrested in July 2020, has been in prison throughout her legal trials.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was 66 when he took his own life in his cell in August 2019 pending trial on sex trafficking charges.
