NXIVM Cult member Lauren Salzman was sentenced on Wednesday for serving as a senior official in a sex cult in upstate New York. She avoided imprisonment and was sentenced to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service.
The slightly wider sentence comes from Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis is believed to be the result of Salzman’s cooperation with the prosecution.
Salzman, 45, was sentenced to 7 to 9 years in prison on charges of extortion.However, because she was the first co-defendant to provide NXIVM secrets and the only one to testify to the founder Keith Lanier In his 2019 trial, her lawyer argued that she was not in jail.
In 2019, Salzman pleaded guilty to racketeering and extortion conspiracy charges before becoming a star witness against Lanier. For the past few years, she has been under house arrest while awaiting sentencing.
Nancy Salzman, Salzman’s mother, co-founded NXIVM with Raniere.Lauren Salzman helps recruit Smallville Actress Alison Mack joined NXIVM, and the two later became part of Lanier’s so-called “first-line masters” circle, and they helped lead the group.
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In Raniere’s 2019 trial, Lauren Salzman spoke in detail about a group called DOS within NXIVM that promoted women’s empowerment to new members, but allegedly marked women with Raniere’s initials and forced them to have sex with him relation.
Salzman also described a sexual dungeon containing female cages that Lanier was building when he was arrested in 2018.
Last week, Salzman submitted a letter to the judge. In it, she apologized for actions such as locking a woman in a room for two years and threatening to deport her.
“I hope I can go back. I hope I can withdraw my participation. I hope I am stronger and see things sooner,” she said in the letter.
Mack was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $20,000 last month. Clare Bronfman, Seagram’s alcoholic heir, was sentenced last year to six years and nine months in prison for his role in NXIVM.
Before the sentence was pronounced on June 30, Mike also submitted a letter to the court to apologize for his actions.
She wrote in the letter: “As I become more aware of how my choices affect those around me, the list of people who have been harmed by the collateral damage of my destructive choices continues to grow.
NXIVM accountant Kathy Russell pleaded guilty to visa fraud and is awaiting judgment. Nancy Salzman also pleaded guilty to a blackmail conspiracy. She is scheduled to be sentenced in September.
In October 2020, Lanier was sentenced to 120 years in prison for sex trafficking and other crimes. On July 20, 2021, Lanier was ordered to pay nearly US$3.5 million in compensation to 21 victims.
