This courtroom sketch shows Ghislaine Maxwell, center, being led out of the courtroom into the lock up by four U.S. Marshals after a jury returned a guilty verdict in her sex trafficking trial, Wednesday Dec. 29, 2021, in New York. Photo: Elizabeth Williams via AP

A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, the former British socialite and longtime confidante of Jeffrey Epstein, of trafficking young girls for sex with the disgraced financier. The verdict followed a three-week criminal trial, in which prosecutors argued that Maxwell, now 60 years old, recruited and groomed underage girls for sex with Epstein at his homes in New York, Florida and New Mexico. The trial, which was expected to last around five weeks, wrapped up closing arguments on Dec. 20. Jurors deliberated for more than five full days before returning the verdict Wednesday evening. The panel found Maxwell guilty on five counts, including sex trafficking, conspiracy, enticement and transporting a minor with intent to engage in illegal sex acts. The jury acquitted on the charge of enticing a minor to travel with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity. Maxwell still faces a second trial for allegedly lying under oath about her involvement with Epstein. In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the "road to justice has been far too long." "But, today, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls—now grown women—who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom. Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today's result, possible," he said. Maxwell, who was represented by Bobbie Sternheim along with Haddon Morgan and Foreman shareholders Laura Menninger and Jeffrey Pagliuca, was arrested and charged in July 2020 with helping to arrange sexualized massages for Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting his own trial. According to prosecutors, Maxwell recruited young and vulnerable girls for sex with Epstein and went to lengths to systematically normalize the abuse. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz told the jury during opening statements in November that Maxwell would befriend Epstein's victims before placing them in sexual situations, undressing and sometimes participating in the encounters herself. She was also described as Epstein's "best friend and right hand," who also functioned as the "lady of the house" and enforced a strict culture of silence surrounding Epstein's residences in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. Maxwell's attorneys, meanwhile, sought to portray her as a "victim" of Epstein, who was being used as a "scapegoat" for his crimes. They also cast doubt on the accounts of four accusers, three of whom were identified by pseudonyms in open court to protect their identities. In opening statements, Sternheim said that each of the women's memories were "unreliable and suspect" and that the women were targets of civil attorneys who intended to capitalize on their stories for financial gain. "This case is about memory, manipulation and money," Sternheim said. In his statement, Williams thanked the Southern District prosecutors who "embraced the victims' quest for justice and have worked tirelessly, day in and day out, to ensure that Maxwell was held accountable for her crimes." "This office will always stand with victims, will always follow the facts wherever they lead, and will always fight to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful and well connected, is above the law," Williams said.