SENTENCING TO FOLLOW

Judge Upholds Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex Trafficking Conviction

U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan also ruled that three of Maxwell's five charges were redundant and struck two of them.

A federal judge has upheld Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction, ruling that there was enough evidence to convict the 60-year-old of procuring girls for pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse. Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime madam, was convicted last year of five federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor and transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Epstein was awaiting trial on similar charges when he killed himself in his jail cell in 2019. In an appeal hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan said Maxwell's conviction was “readily supported” by the evidence presented at trial. But she also ruled that three of the five charges were redundant, and struck two of them. Maxwell will be sentenced based on the three remaining charges in June.