NXIVM head Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years in prison

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

NXIVM head Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years in prison

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS
October 27, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced self-improvement guru Keith Raniere, whose NXIVM followers included millionaires and Hollywood actors, was sentenced to 120 years on Tuesday for turning some adherents into sex slaves branded with his initials.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis handed down the sentence in federal court in Brooklyn after a lengthy hearing featuring statements by victims of a sex-trafficking conspiracy that resulted in Raniere’s conviction last year.

Prosecutors had sought life in prison while defense lawyers said he should face 15 years behind bars.

Raniere, 60, had shown no remorse, with his lawyers telling the judge before the sentencing that their client wasn’t sorry “for his conduct or his choices.”

The sentencing culminated several years of revelations about Raniere’s program, NXIVM, which charged thousands of dollars for invitation-only self improvement courses at its headquarters near Albany, New York, along with branches in Mexico and Canada. Adherents included millionaires and Hollywood actresses willing to endure humiliation and pledge obedience to the defendant as part of his teachings.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/us-news-new-york-keith-raniere-brooklyn-sentencing-bfb00a8c6660b35e169b60d9a0b275ff


FILE - In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, file courtroom drawing, defendant Keith Raniere, center, leader of the secretive group NXIVM, is seated between his attorneys Paul DerOhannesian, left, and Marc Agnifilo during the first day of his sex trafficking trial. Raniere, a self-improvement guru whose organization NXIVM attracted millionaires and actresses among its adherents, faces sentencing Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, on convictions that he turned some female followers into sex slaves branded with his initials. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

[Funtatlaguy]

1. I'm watching "Vow" right now about this cult. Highly recommend.

[Marie Marie]

5. Agree.

[Drunken Irishman]

6. Is it on Netflix?

[Beaverhausen]

12. HBO

[Drunken Irishman]

13. Thanks.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. How do people get suckered into cults run by hucksters?

Oh, wait....

[malaise]

14. My question exactly

People are gullible beyond belief.

[localroger]

16. Our psychology has known, by now well-explored weaknesses

Humans are not in any meaningful sense rational, except in very controlled circumstances. People who are aware of these common weaknesses can exploit the many people who are unguarded as reliably as computer hackers can take over an exposed system. The exploiters control their victims by deliberately creating feelings of joy and terror as appropriate to create the behavior they want, and over time the victims learn to create these feelings themselves, in the situations that their exploiters need, to keep them obedient and too fearful to do anything that might threaten the status quo.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. That was, of course, a rhetorical question.

We know how people get suckered into controlled, isolated cults like this one, but my question is aimed more toward how 60+ million people who aren't under direct control or domination can be suckered into a personality cult headed by a huckster politician. Not to mention any names, though.

[montanacowboy]

3. Good

May he rot in prison

[Jim__]

4. Bye bye.

?itok=GzaN6iJQ

[Aristus]

7. I wonder what kind of sentence Allison "Smallville" Mack is going to get?

I thought she was a great addition to the cast of Smallville, thought she was a very appealing actress, and one of the few who could hold her own in the looks department while sharing the cast with Kristine Kreuk.

Then it turns out she's a violent perv.

There's a very weird career-arc...

[Dave Starsky]

23. Yeah, I was always squarely in Camp Chloe.

Lana was way too fickle and high-maintenance. Chloe was the real "girl next door". How the hell could Clark not see that?

But then again, maybe his Kryptonian senses were picking up those creepy sex trafficker/torturer vibes.

[Crunchy Frog]

8. Kind of a microcosm of this country right now.

[gratuitous]

9. Okay Keith, your next challenge is to serve your full sentence

I'm confident you can do it. Go Keith! 120 years standing on your head!

[Dave Starsky]

24. His first task will be to lick a mud puddle.

Another of his "empowering" challenges revealed in the HBO documentary.

[Squinch]

10. Excellent!!!

[Midnight Writer]

11. Trump pardon time!

Trump could use a guy like Raniere to keep the MAGAs in line.

[Beaverhausen]

15. Pretty hefty sentence. NY doesn't mess around. Hope they are that harsh on Trump...

...when he has his trials next year!

[peggysue2]

18. Whoa, 120 years!

Raniere finally confronted something he couldn't talk or sue his way out of. I watched The Vow and have continued to watch the followup featuring India Oxenberg. Her experience and her mother's determination to get her out of this bizarre cult is a fascinating narrative. The strange thing really involves the people who were sucked into this group, the majority of whom were intelligent, career-oriented individuals looking for answers in their lives, all hoping to do good in the world. Raniere's ability to manipulate and exploit genuine decency and reshape it into something twisted and ugly is terrifying on so many levels.

He wrecked a lot of lives, drove some crazy. One young woman actually committed suicide after her involvement with the group. He also gobbled up a ton of money, primarily from rich devotees.

What a story!

[Funtatlaguy]

20. The 2 sisters that are heirs to the Seagrams company were part of it.

[peggysue2]

25. That's right!

The oldest sister was already sentenced, I think, for her involvement. Six years? And Allison Mack, one of Raniere's top handmaidens/DOS branders, is facing multiple charges.

Incredible but chillingly true.

For me, the most poignant moments were from the whistleblowers, the men and women who suddenly woke up to what a malicious con-artist Raniere was, were terrorized when they left the organization, and then suffered a profound sense of guilt for their own involvement and the number of people they pulled in. I don't know how you get your head around something like this, the years wasted, the lives ruined. However, but for their efforts Raniere would still be out there preying on the vulnerable. So, there's that and one less sociopath roaming the wild.

[Funtatlaguy]

19. They actually physically BRANDED his initials on women

On their abdomen right above their vaginas at the panty lines.
This was to show that they were slaves to their masters.
Unbelievable that women willingly did this until they finally rebelled.

[liberaltrucker]

21. Hopefully ADX Florence has a vacancy

[Blue_true]

22. He deserves to die in jail. nt