Even before he heard the foreperson read the verdicts that the jury had rendered in his case, Keith Raniere muttered to his attorneys that “This is not justice”.
Although he may not be the smartest man in the world, even Raniere understood what it meant when the jury spent less five hours of deliberations in what was a very complex case (According to courtroom insiders, the actual deliberations lasted less than 90 minutes).
That jury found him guilty of all seven counts he was facing: Racketeering, Racketeering Conspiracy, Forced Labor Conspiracy, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Sex Trafficking Conspiracy, Sex Trafficking, and Attempted Sex Trafficking.
It also unanimously agreed that the government had proven he had committed 14 predicate criminal acts related to the Racketeering charge – and that he was aware that “force, fraud or coercion would be used to cause one or more persons to engage in one or more commercial sex acts”.
These latter findings will likely have a significant impact on Raniere’s sentence.
*****
Even before he got back to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), Raniere was complaining to anyone who would listen that he had gotten railroaded at the trial by the testimony of Lauren Salzman, a woman to whom he once promised an avatar child – and whom he now refers to as “that lying little cunt”.
He’s also upset with his two primary attorneys – Marc Agnifilo and Paul DerOhannesian II – both of whom he thinks didn’t fight hard enough for him during the trial.
Raniere has bragged to several of the inmates in his unit that he had Lauren “crying like a little bitch” – and that he would have “broken her entirely” if the judge had not cut off her cross-examination (In his recounting of this part of the trial, Raniere takes full credit for providing the questions for Agnifilo to ask Lauren that eventually caused her to break down in tears).
Raniere has also told several inmates that he’s planning to hire a “whole new team of attorneys” for his appeals (Maybe Steve “The Man” Coffey was just putting in his bid when he viciously and unprofessionally attacked Marc Agnifilo for showing some compassion to Raniere’s victims after the trial).
That suggests that Clare Bronfman is going to be financing Raniere’s appeals – which is something that her assigned Probation Officer might want to ask her about when preparing Clare’s “Pre-Sentencing Report”.
It is inevitable that Raniere’s final appeal will be based on “ineffective assistance of counsel”.
Prior to that, however, he will likely submit one or more appeals based on the following issues:
– the “incomplete” cross-examination of Lauren;
– the refusal of the prosecution to grant “safe passage” to Raniere’s Mexican witnesses – and the refusal of Judge Garaufis to allow those witnesses to testify via closed-circuit television;
– the fact that victims were allowed to testify without revealing their last names; and
– the fact that the prosecution was allowed to use evidence that it found at Raniere’s sex lair at 8 Hale Drive.
*****
Raniere’s Health Continues to Deteriorate
In addition to dealing with his recently-diagnosed ringworm problem, The Vanguard’s overall health is continuing to deteriorate.
While the Medical Unit staff at MDC still consider him to be a hypochondriac and a total whiner, they have also concluded that he’s basically not a very healthy person.
Most federal prisons operate under unhealthy conditions (e.g., lack of adequate sunlight and exercise options; low-quality food; filthy environments; etc. ) – while at the same time offering only minimal health care for inmates.
The combination causes many prisoners to deteriorate physically and mentally.
Raniere’s ego has Taken a hit
One of the more noticeable changes in Raniere since his conviction is that he seems a lot less confident about what’s going to happen to him.
This suggests that he really thought he had a chance of being acquitted – or at least getting a hung jury.
Is it possible that Raniere has actually started to believe his own bullshit?
As unlikely as that sounds, it would explain some of his actions and comments of late…
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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[…] members of Raniere’s defense team: Marc Agnifilo [l] and Paul DerOhanessian [r]As noted in an earlier post, the issues that Raniere will likely raise on appeal include the following: – the […]
[…] members of Raniere’s defense team: Marc Agnifilo [l] and Paul DerOhanessian [r]As noted in an earlier post, the issues that Raniere will likely raise on appeal include the following: – the […]
Frank
Agnifilo did not care about Raniere; he cared about his own ego, his popularity among the crowd of onlookers, other attorneys and the press.
Raniere is likely right; Agnifilo did not fight hard enough.
Does it make a difference in the final result? Probably not, it was a mountain evidence to fight against and anything to do with underage girls is toxic in the eyes of a jury. Furthermore, branding women and the word “cult” made the horror more frightening and tangible.
Unfortunately for Raniere, he seems unable to come to terms with the evil he created.
Of course he will appeal. Doesn’t he have access to the $8M bank account left to him by Pam Cafritz? Then he would not need Clare to finance the appeals. Maybe the estate was never properly probated. Maybe he hopes to save the money for his use when he is finally acquitted in a new trial and set free!
I think the new Dream Team should let him write his own appeals briefs.
It’s interesting – if he did have legal access to that money and had offered to put it up as bond, he might very well have gotten house arrest pretrial instead of MDC. So I just don’t get it.
I suspect the appeals process (and new trial, if he is granted one) will take YEARS. By then he will be in his 60s and in poor health due to his current living conditions. (I wonder if he has been tested for HIV and STDs in MDC – we will probably never know but he is just the type to know he presents a danger yet insist on unprotected sex.)
Waiting for the NDNY and the IRS to step in.
Nancy, Lauren and Allison have already consented to the forfeiture of certain NXIVM-related assets – and Clare has paid a $6 million fine in lieu of any such forfeiture (Poor Kathy apparently didn’t have anything of value to forfeit). But the feds have not yet filed any asset forfeiture action against Raniere.
Included in the second superseding indictment were forfeiture actions regarding each of the criminal charges. Which means that the feds will very likely be bringing several asset forfeiture actions against Raniere.
So, don’t be surprised if that Cafritz estate ends up in the hands of the DOJ.
PS/We’ll be running a post sometime soon about all the other NXIVM-related properties that have not yet been targeted.
Interesting. Many thanks for the update!
Raniere won’t have access to Cafritz’s money because he declared he was broke soon after being arrested. If he tries to claim it now he faces a slam dunk perjury charge and a few more years in prison.
I don’t know that Cafritz had an $8 million bank account. If I recall, I’ve seen reference to her having trusts, and some if not most of her estate could be tied up that way, the principal unavailable to Raniere and possibly just providing an amount of income (typically $200K – $400K per year) that’s not enough to fund the sort of no-expenses-spared legal efforts he’s become accustomed to.
However, if he actually has an interest in Bronfman’s island and could liquidate that, it would definitely fund a full-out effort with the best attorneys.
I don’t think that his imaginings about getting some new dream team of appeal attorneys, necessarily means that there is some realistic expectation that Bronfman is going to fund it. He was clearly deluded about his chances at trial, so is almost certainly similarly engaging in delusional thinking about his appeal.
He may not have have gotten perfect justice – but like his “there are no ultimate victims” dictate, I bet he also had some equivalent of a “deal with it” prescription for his followers (and victims). And he got relatively better justice than he wished for, and wreaked on, his various perceived enemies including girlfriend/victims who rejected him.
Even Manafort would give him the side-eye at this point.
This would be the best time EVER for the Bronfman family to do a full court press to help their sister Clare Bear break away from cult.
Where the fuck is her mother?
We know her sister Sara is scared to cross into the USA since she wouldn’t come for her bail hearing and sent her broke husband to do her bidding. BUT COME ON SARA, HELP A SISTER OUT!!!
Clare has had to make it hard on ever member of the Bronfman family with her criminal behavior.
Clare thinks she is out of the woods and got off with a very light sentence.
WAKE UP CLARE, THE FEDS HAVE JUST STARTED WITH YOU
You have other crimes you committed you have not been charged with and they are being investigated.
You little fairy, Keithy. If you thought you could win, you should have at least taken the stand to try to convince the jury. You pathetic, inadequate, coward. Buh bye.
[…] Raniere Brooding Over Conviction – Already Planning Appeals […]
Hope not i dont want him back out very scary we finally feel safe in our development
Sorry to say, Linda, but it is a groupthink and serious indroctination, and they are still around on some level, trying to prove, as Nancy Salzman testified, “I still believe that some of what we did was good.” Mostly women, as far as I can telll. Acolytes. Women are loyal to Prefect. They have a sense of allegience. Hard to imagine, but yes, Nancy has her minions, and you can venture to say that there is a breech of trust. Some are going to stand by Prefect in her time of need (shopping/health care). Lauren supposedly lies to Prefect knowing that Prefect understands Vanguard to have adolescent sexuality, perhaps “easily controlled.”” We cannot really say how Prefect sees Lauren and Michelle, and yep, the differences in their lives.Because, right? Prefect, the Queen to Raniere’s King of NXivm, the EM Know-it-all.Holy shit Prefect had no clue about the relationships that have Lauren in thrall. Yeah, Prefect was just hanging out with ppl trying to save the world.
The Legatus has risen to Queen Bee, so says K.R. Clavier.
Is the mighty Legatus gonna pay for Keith’s appeals, as Claviger says?
Is the mighty Legatus gonna fall in line behind her Vanguard, in the hopes of building a new and better NXIVM?
Nope. Claviger is WRONG, as usual.
How do I know this?
Clare might not be Einstein, but she’s got a minimal amount of common sense.
Ask yourselves this question:
Why did Clare finance NXIVM in the past?
Answer: Before the NY Times article, NXIVM was regarded by many as an organization of high esteem.
Therefore, being a high ranking member of NXIVM — and being promoted to Legatus — would have likely given Clare a sense of achievement that she had never felt before.
However, that was BEFORE the NY Times article came out.
With NXIVM’s reputation now in tatters — and with Keith being associated with sex trafficking and child pornography — there is no longer any UPSIDE to associating with NXIVM. It’s all downside now.
Thus, I don’t think Clare is gonna waste the rest of her inheritance financing an organization that is recognized WORLDWIDE as a place of sex trafficking and child pornography.
Here’s the million dollar question…
Why is Clare reportedly meeting with Nicki Clyne?
Simple. Because she needs to keep everybody under the illusion that NXIVM is fine — so that they don’t flee to the government’s witness list for the next round of indictments.
The idiots remaining loyal to NXIVM — such as Mrs. Battlestar Galactica — could serve as the basis for many more indictments in the future, should they ever turn against NXIVM and flee to the arms of EDNY.
I believe it’s just damage control.
I’d be shocked as hell if Clare actually commits millions of new dollars for future NXIVM activities.
Having “kissed the Devil beneath his tail,” Bronfman is still under Raniere’s influence. She doesn’t – because she can’t, see what Raniere did that was wrong. She is still loyal to him. She sees herself as completely innocent. Her thinking is only one click away from Nickvi Clyne’s. She hired some good lawyers who shouted at her that she HAD to plead guilty, but on the inside its NXIVM business as usual. Make no mistake, she’s a fanatic and will do everything she can to get Raniere released.
Wait? Nicky met with Clare? When did this happen?
“Wait? Nicky met with Clare? When did this happen?”
In spite of the restrictions placed on the various defendants, there is still a loose communications network linking the NXIVM nutcases and allowing covert communications.
“Convicted racketeer and former actress Allison Mack has had a nervous breakdown, a Nxivm source told Frank Report.”
https://frankreport.com/2019/07/05/rumors-about-allison-mack-include-nervous-breakdown/
You have to try harder, Bangkok! You don’t believe a word you’re saying, yourself. Seek more novel ways to play the fool, thanks!
:-)))
Ok. You do realize Nancy still has followers who are naive enough or in deep enough to overlook the nature of Nxivm? Who think she is a good person who helped them through troubled times? Like, they see her as a guru? I cannot believe they are not reading this blog, but this Nxivm is sone strange shit.
Clare is a follower given wings, but she never knew who cared. She was elevated only due to her vulnerability. It’s debatable if she is, even after the His Holiness, the DL (lol) debacle, capable of being embarrassed–to see how she is just given “authority” while people in the know laughed at her. For whatever it’s worth, you can be sure Prefect played the obsequius one to Clare like a game, getting others to follow suit. That’s what Nancy and friends did–laugh at the rubes behind their backs. Ok, right. KEITH DEMANDED PREFECT STEP DOWN AND BOW DOWN TO CLARE. OK. My heart goes out to Lauren. So much embarrassment.
Let’s just lie to everyone. Right. No one just goes to volleyball. This is where the whole thing falls on Prefect. So interesting that Prefect, the Queen, is hoodwink, supervises the detention of Dani. Right. Prefect has no clue. Ok.
Looking back, Pam didn’t need to be so elevated-so “rich, tall, and elegant” and lending family name. Salzman, Bouchey, etc. Let it go– mesmerized by the Saratoga scene.Amazing that Cafriz, with Keith, “founded”
Ha. “JNESS”
Janus. Two-faced.
Cafritz was the prime party to forwarding the “women are two-faced.”
It is amazing how the various needs and motives of people can be exploited.
About the Jness/ Janus- thank you, I never saw that before you pointed it out, now it just seems so obvs. They certainly knew how to ‘differentiate’ in their exploitative planning for each individual neurosis. Bespoke Enslavement, if you will 🙂
Well, on the bright side, the ringworm outbreak probably discourages unwanted physical assaults from his colleagues.
We all have mixed emotions with the pesky ringworm.
Raniere was right about one thing, the jury did not have much discussion about the charges. They probably decided he wasn’t worth one extra second of their lives. Combine that with Raniere’s usual word salad that pontificates a smelly fart for hours, it’s no wonder he said “This is not justice.”
“Combine that with Raniere’s usual word salad that pontificates a smelly fart for hours, it’s no wonder he said ‘This is not justice.’”
Haha! So true..