DOJ adds additional attorney to NXIVM case – his expertise: prosecuting corrupt public officials!

Oh C’mon Down, All Ye Unfaithful!

By K.R. Claviger

You know that old saying “The best gifts come in small packages”?

Well, as it turns out, that same sentiment may apply to filings in the case of U.S. v. Raniere Et Al.

As accustomed as we’ve become to the very lengthy filings of the attorneys who are defending Keith Raniere, Clare Bronfman, Allison Mack, Nancy Salzman, Lauren Salzman, and Kathy Russellextensive in length, short on substance – it turns out that it’s the pithy little filings that can carry the most weight.

Take, for example, this little gem:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – X
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
– against –
KEITH RANIERE, et al.,

Defendants.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – X
18-CR-204 (NGG)
NOTICE OF APPEARANCE

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Trowel from this point forward will be added as counsel in the above-captioned matter.
All future correspondence to the United States in the above-captioned matter should also be sent to:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Trowel United States Attorney’s Office (Criminal Division) 271 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201 Tel: (718) 254-6469 Email: Kevin.Trowel@usdoj.gov

***

Not much there, right?

It makes sense, doesn’t it, that the prosecution team would add another attorney – especially since there are more than 20 attorneys representing the current defendants (That figure does not include the other NXIVM-related attorneys who are out there intimidating potential witnesses and obstructing justice)?

So, no big deal…unless…

Unless this particular addition was brought in for a specific reason.

So, who is this Kevin Trowel – and why was he brought in to serve on the prosecution team in this case?

Understandably, the Department of Justice does not provide detailed organizational charts of its staff. After all, most of these are noble public servants out there prosecuting some really bad people.

But what we do know from its website is that the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) has three Divisions: Appeals, Civil, and Criminal.

And, digging a little deeper on that same website, we also find out that the Criminal Division has nine sections:
– Business and Securities Fraud
– National Security and Cybercrime
– Public Integrity
– Organized Crime and Gangs*
– International Narcotics and Money Laundering
– Civil Rights
– General Crimes
– Long Island Criminal Division
– Forfeiture Practice**
________________________________________________________
* Moira Kim Penza and Tanya Hajjar are from the Organized Crimes and Gangs Section – and ** Karin K. Orenstein is from the Forfeiture Practice Section. All three of these women are part of the prosecution team in the case of the U.S. v. Raniere Et Al.

So, what about Kevin Trowel? What area of criminal prosecution does he specialize in?

Well, thanks to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two guys who invented Google back in 1996, we quickly learn that Mr. Trowel appears to be part of the EDNY’s Public Integrity Section.
https://oig.justice.gov/press/2017/2017-01-12a.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/recently-terminated-nypd-officer-arrested-interstate-transportation-prostitutes

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/federal-correctional-officer-and-girlfriend-inmate-charged-bribery

So, why do you suppose Mr. Trowel has been added to the case of the U.S. v. Raniere Et Al?

Well, maybe it’s because there’s a been real drop-off in public integrity crimes in New York State – and he has a lot of time on his hands. Umm…No, on second thought, that can’t be the reason why.

Or maybe it’s because President Trump has issued an Executive Order that prohibits the DOJ from prosecuting any public officials for the next couple of years. That’s plausible – but unlikely.

Or maybe it’s because the DOJ has finally decided to take a look at the various “public officials” who aided and abetted the NXIVM criminal enterprise for the past twenty years – and the various intermediaries who helped broker those deals.

So, hypothetically speaking, what public officials and intermediaries might get a chance to meet Mr. Trowel sometime in the next few months? Well, here are a few candidates:

As Monty Hall would say, “C’mon down…”

[Let me point out that all of these officials named below are respected in their fields. It is just that somehow, one way or another, they have each helped the NXIVM crime syndicate accomplish its destructive ends. That may be accidental or intentional or somewhere in between. But the fact is that a Public Integrity DOJ lawyer is on the case now says a lot. The tip of the iceberg.]

Public Officials:
P. David Soares – Albany County District Attorney
David Rossi – Assistant Albany County District Attorney
Vadim Thomas – Special Agent In Charge, Albany, NY FBI Office
Andrew Vales – Former Special Agent In Charge, Albany, NY FBI Office
Grant C. Jaquith – U.S. Attorney, Northern District of New York
Richard Hartunian – Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of New York
Peter A. Lynch – Albany County Supreme Court Judge
Holly A. Trexler – Albany City Court Judge (Former Albany County Special District Attorney)
Karen A. Heggen – Saratoga County District Attorney
James Murphy – Saratoga County Judge (Former Saratoga County District Attorney)
Kevin T. Gagan – Counsel, New York State Police
Rodger Kirsopp – Senior Investigator, New York State Police

Others:
Steve Coffey – O’Connell & Aronowitz
Mike McDermott – O’Connell & Aronowitz
Pamela A. Nichols – O’Connell & Aronowitz

Also not to be forgotten:

William Savino – Woods Oviatt

And perhaps the most significant:

Anthony Bruce – Former Assistant US Attorney, Western District of New York

***

Things are obviously moving now in this case – and a superseding indictment or two may be under this year’s Christmas tree.

But, as that old saying goes, “It ain’t over till the skinny DOS lady sings”.

***

Here’s the official description of the Public Integrity Section from the EDNY’s website:

Public Integrity
The Public Integrity Section investigates and prosecutes public officials at all levels of government, whether elected or appointed, who would further their own interests in violation of the public trust. It regularly partners with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to bring cases aimed at protecting taxpayers’ funds by identifying fraud and abuse in public contracting. The Section’s recent cases have involved a broad spectrum of misconduct by public officials and misuse of public funds, including the indictment of a New York Assemblyperson for theft of public funds from a not-for-profit and obstruction of justice, the conviction of a New York State Senator for obstruction of justice and making false statements, the conviction of a former Assistant District Attorney for conducting illegal wiretaps, the conviction of a federal prison guard for sexually assaulting an individual in custody and the conviction of two school officials in a multi-million dollar federal program fraud. The Section applies the full array of investigative techniques to its ongoing investigations.

 

 

About the author

K.R. Claviger

46 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us! (Email & username are optional)

  • Happy Holidays Albany. Mr. Trowel, we’ve been waiting for you. It’s time the DOJ takes the necessary steps to be the organization they were created for, which was seriously damaged by the Clinton Cartel.

    20 years of corruption should keep you busy for a while. But this was a group who became complacent with each win (And I don’t mean in court). So it’s likely there are records of payments that should look like breadcrumbs.

    Best of luck.

  • As Clare’s attempt to control essentially all of the Defendants crumbles, those who get to prosecutors first seeking plea deals might end up in the best positions. At some point prosecutors are going to stop negotiating plea deals because they won’t need to. Without a plea deal, defendants could end up with much longer sentences. Prosecutors love to make examples out of those who refused plea bargains.

  • Nancy Salzman still has her website up and running along with a video touting her helpful services to align you with your ideal purpose in life.

    nancysalzman.com

    Someone might wish to explain to her hosting service she is under indictment by EDNY for fraud, money laundering and sex trafficking and mention to them they could face the possibility of indictment for fraud since they are promoting her.

  • What it takes to destroy widespread political corruption in local government.

    Albany, and Saratoga counties are in for a long hard brutal fight.

    I lived through this story and I know these people first hand.

    Panici
    LoBue
    Gliottoni
    Louise Marshall
    Grossi
    Mangialardi
    Prisco
    Nick LoBue had ties to organized crime and was a dangerous character.

    The Chicago Heights mob boss Albert Tocco was involved in the murder of Anthony Spilotro and his brother Michael.

    Joe Pesci played Spilotro in the movie Casino.
    The scene in Casino where a man’s head is placed in a vise and squeezed is based on a real murder.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Panici

    In 1988 the FBI started investigating corruption in Chicago Heights, Illinois and Bloom Township.
    Over the next 8 years the Mayor of Chicago Heights, most of the City Council, the Deputy Police Chief. several police officers and the Bloom Township Supervisor were all hauled into US Court and figuratively emasculated.

    IT WAS AN EIGHT YEAR PROCESS.

    Albany and Saratoga counties will not be cleaned up until all of the corrupt Judges, Prosecutors, Politicians and Cops are hauled into Federal Court and emasculated.

  • Who may have been the mastermind behind the “joint defense” attempts to hold together 20+ lawyers in a coordinated effort to defeat the Government’s prosecution of NXIVM and possibly aided and abetted in obstructing justice? One of Clare’s “stealth,” “invisible” lawyers who tries to avoid putting his name on public documents, former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned in the Obama era Fast N’ Furious scandal after being called a liar by Deputy A.G. Cole, seems to have coordinated much of the intimidation/controlling of witnesses and coordination of NXIVM lawyers at the behest of the notorious Mexican Salinas family. Who else in this entire roster would have been able to mastermind a coordinated “joint” effort between 20+ lawyers? It’s a fair question.

    Among other acts, Burke made phone calls on behalf of Clare and NXIVM, telling witnesses they ought to “do things the NXIVM way,” [or else?] and probably was the “invisible” mastermind who has orchestrated efforts to defeat the federal Government’s prosecution of NXIVM. After being censured and fined by the Arizona Bar in 2014, Big Man Burke has moved on from being involved in covert Mexican weapons trafficking during the Obama administration, to using his insider knowledge of DOJ procedures to empower bad guys (and gals) in a Mexican/U.S. “sex cult.” “Fright experiments,” obstruction of justice, witness harassment and intimidation, and human trafficking anyone? The University of Arizona (Burke’s law school) must be proud!

  • Mike McDermott is the one guy who can take down both David Soares and O’Connell & Aronowitz. Get in touch with Mr. Trowel ASAP, Mikey, or plan to get indicted, convicted, disbarred and incarcerated.

  • The wheels of justice may seem to spin too slowly for some but they do keep spinning. This case just keeps gaining momentum. NXIVM’s umbrella was so big and keeping it looking legitimate took a lot of people but it’s being turned inside out now. This is very good news.

  • This appointment is absolutely needed. A complete accounting on Nx misdeeds and their co-conspirators in politics, state and local government and agencies such as the NY State Police are necessary to restore integrity and accountability. This investigation could be deep and profound and it is welcomed. Without help from others Nx could not have enforced the intimidation and white washing they unleashed.

    Any souls dedicated to research on this site who wish to set up a preliminary road map would be an aid.

  • Well done Frankie. Nice to see your blog back on its game after far too many waste of space and life entries. Look back on my posts when I posted here a bit more frequently as I touched on the major direction this was headed.

      • Lol. My son’s at-home bris was one of the worst days of my life — prolly his too. But I didn’t let our Rabbi get away with much! Happy Hannakah!

        • I’m so behind here (work)- just read this – and wanted to say Happy Hanukkah Python and Heidi, may your light shine ever brighter this year

  • This is fantastic!

    DOJ must be very confident in their abilities to getting the job done, to go after the ones who deliberately didn’t in the past. YESSSSS!

  • Ruh-roh number 2!!!

    There are some people that are going to be watching over their shoulders for sure!!!

    Especially Rodger Kirsopp and Anthony Bruce. Frank, do we need an indictment Bingo sheet?

    Maybe some of these folks will attempt get-a-ways to Puerto Vallarta or Provence, France. Maybe that is why Sara Bronfman had her resort in France completely booked January 2019-June 2019. She’s on the Fiends and Family plan.

  • Enjoy your Christmas, Rodger. This might be the last one you get to spend with your family for a while.

  • This is already Gossip Topic #1 at the Albany County Courthouse. Lots of people here think that the O&A people are going to be out of that firm in the very near future.

  • I hope the massive settlement that John Tighe should be getting from NYS for his blatently fabricated prosecution is enough to cover his medical needs.

  • Let’s hope…….

    The possible/probable corrupt involvement of public officials is the worst aspect of this case.

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” In addition, he was credited in the Starz docuseries 'Seduced' for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premieres on May 22, 2022.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Parlato,_Jr.

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

Archives