Adios Vanguard

A New Year for NXIVM and Raniere is no longer the Vanguard

With the new year came many changes for Nxivm and the people affected by its existence.

Keith Alan Raniere began the year in a prison, held in federal custody having been unable to persuade a judge he should be granted bail.

A year ago, he was in Mexico, enjoying a luxurious life, attended by doting slaves, although not without a new kind of worriment.

He knew he was under federal investigation for various crimes. In fact, the government believes he went to Mexico to escape jurisdiction. His sudden shift to Mexico from his longtime home in Clifton Park, a suburb of Albany, was cited as a principle reason for his being denied bail.

So now he lives in one of the most punishing and cruel environments in the USA – the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, a place so cruel and barbaric that prisoners living within its walls never get outdoor recreation, they eat food that most of us wouldn’t allow our pets to consume , live with mites, too cold in summer, too warm in winter, with lights on 24 hours per day.

Keith has been convicted of nothing yet, but his trip to Mexico was evidently one of the dumbest things he ever did. Had he stayed put, he might have had a chance at home detention – like Allison Mack.

It is much harder to defend oneself against charges when you are in prison. It is harder for attorneys to meet their client. It is harder to think, to rest, to have access to resources like for instance paper and pen. Not that you can’t get this in prison, it is just harder. Everything is harder. And in prison, how can anyone have good health?

Your health zaps away, your physical condition ebbs slowly – or quickly – at places like MDC. When a person is unhealthy, he cannot defend himself well. When he is isolated from his lawyers and cannot even see them without a strip search before and after – all these work against a sound defense.

Keith Raniere has been in custody since March 26. That means he is now nearly 9 ½ months in a cage.

He is told what to do  – given orders constantly – every day. He is no longer the Vanguard who had eager slaves awaiting his instructions. He no longer has to merely hint to get, or scare his women, to do his bidding.

He is now a slave. When for years he was their slave master.

He was once a man who had sex with many women. He is now forbidden sex with any women.  That’s more of his punishment. He used to eat whatever he liked. Now he eats whatever slop the BOP chooses to feed him.  He controlled other women’s caloric intake – as part of his severe discipline of women, to keep them super skinny, the way he like them.

Now his caloric intake is controlled for him.

He had women to take care of his personal needs and his possessions. Now he has to carefully guard his few possessions from being taken away from him.

He used to tell women what to wear. Now he cannot even choose for himself what he will wear. He is told what to wear.

Before he occupied his time considering how to punish his enemies. Now he has to occupy most of his time strategizing on how to avoid his enemies destroying him.

Before he had access to millions of dollars to punish his enemies. To try to put them in prison. He could sue the daylights out of them using Bronfman money.

Today he has access to millions of Bronfman dollars – to defend himself and try to keep from spending the rest of his life in prison. And in MDC he never sees daylight. The government already has sued the daylight out of him.

Unless he takes a plea deal, someday he will go to trial. Maybe in March, more likely in the fall of 2019. Maybe even later. He will either be convicted for one or more crimes he has been charged or will be charged with, or he will be acquitted.

Even if acquitted on all charges  – an event that seems unlikely – it will not be easy for him to resume his old life – of vengeance and sex. Of war and sex – the two pursuits of the beastly.

He is now well known – at best as a notorious rascal, and more commonly an evil man, a wicked monster and abuser of women.  It will be hard for him to rise again. He was once known as the world’s smartest man and now exposed as a phony who did a take home IQ test- he is considered by many to be incredibly stupid.

A short term conman. [20 years is short term in the scheme of things. Especially if you do 20 years in prison for it.]

Keith Raniere will be forever remembered as a man who branded women. Who took collateral – blackmail worthy material and even if he did not release it, it showed his sick warped mind.

He was a cult leader, a manipulator of people who trusted him and a monster to those who crossed him or those he hated – while all the while preaching that he was spreading love and trying to create a more noble civilization.

It may be irrelevant to most of us what he has done in the past. It is the future we are concerned with. His future is grim.  Keith Alan Raniere is likely to spend many years in prison. And when he gets out, if he ever gets out [which might be the only plea deal available to him – release sometime perhaps in his late 70’s or 80s], he will no longer be a cult leader.

Not the Vanguard of a new thought movement, or head of a great noble mission.  He is and will be just a loser.  A guy who tried the big long con game – serving himself at every level, every moment, dreaming he would never get caught or that there is no law of karma.

That you can go out and hurt everyone you like and somehow – just because you got more money and think you are more strategic, karma will not have its sway.

He was a great believer in karma – for others. He told others that he knew their past lives even and that he had the remedy  for their bad karma incurred in their past lives: Do what the Vanguard told them to do.

He couldn’t solve his own karma. And he is now paying. He is no longer the Vanguard.

He is just plain Keith Raniere. He was called Vanguard in the indictment – i.e. Keith Raniere AKA Vanguard.  But the fact is he is no longer the Vanguard.

This arrogant man – with his foolish idea that he was untouchable is now for all practical purposes an idiot respected by almost no one.

And in the coming years it doesn’t promise to get any better for him.

Adios Vanguard.

About the author

Frank Parlato

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  • When Keith Raniere ordered the woman held against her will…even though the door was not locked… that constituted kidnapping. She was threatened with being left in the middle of nowhere with nothing. Leaving someone in the middle of nowhere i.e. the desert is a death sentence. Remember how O.J went to jail for kidnapping-related charges?

    Also, there are the taxes and identity fraud across state lines and international lines…. classify as federal crimes.
    Guess that this case is so high profile the prosecutors are not going to cut a deal for him. The judge would probably not accept any kind of deal any way. The prosecution can make a recommendation. The Judge has the final word.

    Raniere is guilty of just about every crime you can thing except drug dealing. He is an evil human being.

    FYI everyone he is no longer Vanguard or Keith Raniere. He is prisoner number 57005-177. He is not going anywhere.

    The detention center he is at is going to seem like the Four Seasons compared to the Federal Prison he will serve his sentence at. All the inmates and guards will have heard about the child molestation allegations his life will be total living hell.

    Hasta la vista #57005-177 !

  • Way too early to even speculate Keith’s sentence. We haven’t seen the indictment for financial crimes tax evasion money laundering….
    Don’t assume on the plea deals. They only happen if the DOJ offers a plea. With the resources being dedicated to this case the DOJ sees this as a slam dunk. Keith Clair Nancy Lauren and Kathy are the low hanging fruit in this case. Prison for all is in their future!

  • I wonder if he lies awake at night thinking of exactly where it all went wrong, the exact point it started slipping out of his control (not in a remorseful way, in a burning-with-rage way). That’s the problem with these psychopathic narcissists, though. They just can’t stop themselves from pushing the envelope . Most people would have been happy with a quarter of what he had access to, but he wanted more, more, MORE.

    • I’m sure he does, Shelby, and he probably thinks he isn’t taking the fall either. He’s spending his nights awake plotting a way to wiggle free and pin the blame on anyone but him.

  • Some people talk about Raniere taking a plea deal.
    The only way Raniere could get a plea deal is if he sold out the Salinas Gang.
    And selling out the Salinas Gang is a very dangerous proposition.

  • Two score and eighteen years ago, a malfunctioning baby was born into this world who would go on to become a prominent slave owner.

    At just one year of age, he was unable to utter a single word but was crapping his diapers like a true champion.

  • Yes, Nx is dead and KAR’s reputation is forever scarred.

    However, I wouldn’t be surprised Raniere takes a plea deal for a time period much less than what is forecast on this site. Branding is not a crime and it may be difficult to prove the sex traffic charges to a jury. It will depend how well the prosecution is certain they can prove the sex traffic charges. If I were on the jury, I would not make a decision until I’d heard all the evidence and was sure his acts legally qualified as true sex trafficking. It only takes 1 juror to hang the jury.

    However, the absolute best case plea for KAR for the financial crimes etc.is 3 to 5 years as a 1st time offender with credit for time served and getting released in 2.5 years for good behavior. I’m not at all sure what the bottom line sentence the prosecution will agree to. And, that is another reason we play close attention to this site!

    • Deliberately inflicting burns on a person when they are based on extortion,
      coercion, violence and deception are crimes such as grievious bodily harm
      and torture. And Keith and his accomplices have a conspiracy to commit
      these and other crimes.

  • Well done. Thank you.

    Let’s hope for long-term incarceration. If he gets out, he will still have access to the remaining loyal supporters and the Bronfman money, which at the very least will provide a life of comfort. Which he does not deserve.

  • The gov’t doesn’t like tax cheats. And they don’t like cults.

    Put those two together and Raniere is done.

    And any of his associates must be BEYOND STUPID for not taking a plea deal.

  • In the unlikely event Raniere is found not guilty, do not put it past him to use his “innocence” to be used as a tool to draw others toward himself again. Amway uses their FTC ruling to claim they were not only found to be a legitimate MLM model, but a model for the rest of the industry to follow. While not true, many do not research this. And while the internet is now available to check things out and find this is in fact not true, there will always be those who choose not to do the research and believe their fearless “leaders,” to their own detriment.

    • I agree with you. Not sure how he could be acquitted but you never know. Let’s just hope he keeps insisting his attorneys do stupid things, like that last crazy application for bond.

      • Even if he is found guilty, as Amway pleaded in Canada, and was fined ~$50-60 million dollars, he will still represent himself as a man of virtue who “took one” for the NXIVM team. How many of you knew Amway pleaded guilty? I rest my case.

    • Actually a very good point Scott. (I’m shocked to write that. Lol).

      But seriously, can you give us a blurb on upstream, downstream, taxes, contractors, etc – what makes a business an MLM? How do we spot them? Why are some that seem good, actually bad (Avon, Cutco Knives, Mary Kay)? Are they all bad? etc, etc.

      • I always have good points, however many are not received properly because of bias. Here’s an overview, which also partially answers the queston about what action to take, beyond merely reading and making comments on this website, additional actions can be found here: https://stoptheamwaytoolscam.wordpress.com/what-else-can-we-do/

        Do your part and forward the below John Oliver video link to everyone you know, except current Amway IBOs, and encourage them to do the same, and so on, à la network marketing/MLM. Spread the word & forward this great John Oliver video about Amway & other MLM scams going viral – talk, retweet, post to Facebook, text, email, etc, to every non-IBO you know & encourage them to do the same. If you don’t, then you’re part of the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI

        Amway has 2 major problems, and most MLMs have at least one of these issues:

        1. The products are overpriced, which makes them almost impossible to sell to customers and results in Amway being an illegal pyramid, according to the FTC and SEC websites and previous court decisions; and

        2. The Tool Scam is hidden profit for the top level distributors only, and the vast majority of distributors operate at a net loss as a result. This is RICO fraud.

        For recent examples, google “FTC” along with the following companies, one at a time: FHTM, BurnLounge, Zeek, TelexFree, Vemma, and Herbalife.

        Although there is no federal law defining pyramid schemes, the FTC has a long and successful track record of using its Section 5 law prohibiting “unfair and deceptive” business practices to go after MLM scams: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/multilevel-marketing which states, in part, “Not all multilevel marketing plans are legitimate. If the money you make is based on your sales to the public, it may be a legitimate multilevel marketing plan. If the money you make is based on the number of people you recruit and your sales to them, it’s probably not. It could be a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal, and the vast majority of participants lose money.”

        Read about these and much more at these non-commercial websites: http://www.StopTheAmwayToolScam.wordpress.com and http://www.AllMLMFacts.org, and email stoptheamwaytoolscam@yahoo.com to help shut down Amway and other MLM scams.

        Watch this video about Amway and other MLM scams, then forward it to everyone you know, except for current Amway IBOs, and encourage them to do the same. When enough people know, these scams will collapse:

        English version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI

        Spanish version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy-O4myeUzg

        Ironically, NXIVM is the only MLM I’ve come across where there appears to be significant retail sales present and are therefore not an illegal pyramid scheme/scam. They just screwed up everything else.

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

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