Judge denies Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempt to have her conviction on sex trafficking charges dropped

By Brian Vitagliano, CNN

A request by Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys to have her sex trafficking convictions dropped has been denied.

“The testimony and other trial evidence established the Defendant’s role in grooming and recruiting underage girls and using the cover of massage to perpetrate sexual abuse,” US District Judge Alison Nathan wrote in her opinion.

Nathan did, however, grant Maxwell’s motion regarding some counts being repetitive.

“The Government concedes that Count One is multiplicitous with Count Three, and the Court further concludes that Count Five is multiplicitous with Count Three,” Nathan wrote. “Count Five, like Counts One and Three, charged the Defendant’s participation in the same decade-long unlawful agreement with the Defendant’s continuous coconspirator, Jeffrey Epstein, to groom and sexually abuse underage girls.”

Maxwell’s sentencing is set for June 28, and the court will enter judgment of conviction on counts three, four and six.

Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of five federal charges: sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy.

She was acquitted on the charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

A previous motion for a new trial due to an issue over a juror was denied earlier in April.

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