
This is Part 3, Moira Penza on Raniere. In this post she speaks about Lauren Salzman.
Part 1: Moira Penza on Raniere: Knox Woods
Part 2: Moira Penza on Raniere: ‘He Was a Conman, a Predator, a Crime Boss’.
On June 17, Assistant US Attorney Moira Kim Penza made the closing arguments in the trial of Kieth Alan Raniere. She spoke of a variety of matters, most of them concerning the man who is known to his followers as Vanguard. In her closing, which lasted about four hours, she refers to Raniere as ‘the defendant”.
During her closing, Penza also mentioned Lauren Salzman’s name dozens of times.
Lauren seemed to be a curious mixture of victim and victimizer. On the witness stand she really made Keith Raniere look like a monster and showed herself as a sympathetic figure.
Penza did not portray Salzman as a victim in her closing. While there is little doubt that Penza will support a downward departure from sentencing guidelines in Lauren’s case because she cooperated and testified,
But it is also clear that Penza, from her remarks to the jury, did not think Lauren was a pure victim.
She spoke of Lauren Salzman this way:
Moira Penza said during her closing:
Lauren Salzman … was part of the defendant’s criminal enterprise, part of his inner circle. She admitted … [to] crimes she committed on …. the defendant’s behalf.
Her imprisonment of Daniela. Her fraud and her extortion of the DOS victims. And she told you the benefits she received from the enterprise. A job making over $100,000 a year that allowed her to own two homes and travel all over the world. As well as her personal sexual relationship with the defendant and her dream of having his child.
All of which she would have lost if she stopped doing his bidding….
Lauren Salzman was abused for years by the defendant before she made the choice to commit the crimes she pled guilty to.
She testified, if she had ever spoken up or said no to the defendant, she would have been ostracized, lost her career, and lost her relationship.
…. Lauren Salzman, she’s a cooperator. She’s accepted responsibility for her crimes and she’s agreed to testify. But she is hoping for leniency at sentencing. You can consider her testimony with that in mind. But when you analyze her testimony, you should also consider what we call corroborating evidence that indicates she’s been truthful.
Helped Imprison Daniella
…. Lauren Salzman… would become [Daniela’s] captor at the defendant’s direction.
The defendant also made clear to Lauren Salzman that this was to be kept a secret. He didn’t even want her to discuss it on the phone.
Naked Photos
The first folder, 4L122505, naked photographs of Lauren Salzman, which the defendant titled the folder after his nickname for her Forelorn….
Lauren Salzman and Daniela both testified that the defendant took naked photographs of them in 2005….
Lauren Salzman and Daniela described the defendant taking pictures of them…
Lauren Knew Keith’s Slimy Underbelly
…. Lauren Salzman testified about the defendant’s young virgin successor; that Daniela Padilla, Loreta Garza, and Rosa Laura Junco, were trying to bring in sisters or cousins from Mexico to come to Albany for this purpose. Rosa Laura was even willing to give up her own daughter….
Lauren Salzman… testified that Pam Cafritz facilitated all of Keith’s objectives, whatever Keith wanted especially in terms of getting sex partners for the defendant….
Lauren Salzman testified that Pam’s illness and death meant that no one was going to fill that role, to be able to do that for him. That was until DOS.
Lauren Played Big Role in DOS
Lauren Salzman testified about the sexual aspects of DOS. She told you that the defendant was having sex with his first line DOS slaves including herself. She told you about the naked photographs, the up-close vagina pictures that were sexual in nature.
She told you about the dungeon with the BDSM equipment that Daniela Padilla bought. She told you about seduction assignments and the sexual relationships between the defendant and the DOS slaves….
And this is the testimony about the dungeon. 9 Milltowne Drive, the sorority house the defendant told his slaves to purchase. And you can see here the warranty deed dated October 25, 2018, with Stinka, LLC signed by Nicole Clyne. She is one of the first line DOS slaves. And they quote from Lauren Salzman about the dungeon ….
And the items that they told the first line DOS slaves to buy for him. The ones Salzman described as a BDSM sex torture place like the cage.

Lauren Salzman testified that Cici, [Cecilia Salinas, daughter of Carlos Salinas the former Mexican president] whose name we’re not using, is somebody who was a woman who did have very powerful connections in Mexico. And the idea of changing a vote shows that the defendant has envisioned, I submit, that all of these women will be collateralized vows…
Lauren Salzman testified about the structure of DOS and she told you, making it abundantly clear throughout the trial, that the defendant was at the top of it. He was the grandmaster, he was the supreme master….
Lauren Salzman testified that she was instructed to conceal the defendant’s identity from her slaves, and that she followed that instruction…

Flubbing Collateral
Lauren Salzman testified the initial collateral she proposed, which described the true story of her, her mom, and the defendant’s role in corrupting a woman who was having a mental breakdown following a NXIVM class was rejected because the defendant might have been uninclined to release it since it implicated himself.
… Lauren Salzman said – [the collateral was rejected because it] “would be a conflict of interest for Keith to release the collateral because he would be implicated in the collateral. So if I were to ever violate the vow, he wouldn’t be able to use it because it would hurt him so she didn’t accept it”…
Lauren Used Her Power at ESP
For those willing to make a career of it, success in EPS was explicitly tied to — success in DOS was explicitly tied to their success in ESP, an additional tactic of coercion.
For example, in one of the text messages we discovered … between Audrey and Lauren Salzman, Lauren said, “I’m telling you this not just as your M, a master, but as a green in ESP, very high rank.”
…the Government has proved that the defendant agreed with his first line slaves including Lauren Salzman and Allison Mack to obtain the labor of lower-ranking slaves…
Lauren Salzman… testified that the defendant had said that the first-line DOS members should be getting approximately 40 hours of labor per week from their slaves….

And you also saw the text message… that Lauren Salzman texted one of her slaves where — that she was conveying that her slave needed to provide her with work and she told the slave, who was a professional, that the type of work Audrey should be doing should be commensurate with Audrey’s skill set. So, for example, I submit that if Audrey were a lawyer, Lauren expected an hour of legal work from her.
Notably as mentioned before, Lauren also threw around her power of a high ranking member of NXIVM with Audrey who herself was looking to be promoted within NXIVM.
Lauren Knew Keith Was ‘Working With’ Allison’s Slaves
… Lauren Salzman testified that she asked Allison if the defendant was having sex with her slaves.
Allison said, “just Nicole and Suzy, but we’re going to start working with India and Jay.”
Lauren then asked, “when you say working, do you mean fucking?”
And Allison said yes.
Brave Raniere
In November 2016 the defendant fled to Mexico leaving Lauren Salzman and others holding down Clifton Park.
A short time after that he dropped his phones and stopped using his e-mail. He went into hiding.
On the day the defendant was arrested in Mexico he was with several of the first line slaves, including Lauren Salzman, with the intention that they could recommit themselves to the defendant and DOS through group sex. But his fantasy never happened. The Federalies came to his villa and the defendant hid behind another door, in fact two doors but the defendant can’t hide anymore.
***
Moira Penza did not say it, but she might as well have said it, for it is proven again and again — Viva Executive Success!

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
[…] AUSA Moira Penza mentioned this house in her closing argument: […]
“Lauren Salzman was abused for years by the defendant before she made the choice to commit the crimes she pled guilty to.”
Vastly untrue and disproved in court…she was in the crime for a LONG time…Only Allison committed A crime after years of abuses.
“She told you about the dungeon with the BDSM equipment that Daniela Padilla bought. She told you about seduction assignments and the sexual relationships between the defendant and the DOS slaves….”
Something they(Raniere’s lawyer) tried to say was exclusive to Allison’s pod…Because Allison was sexual sick (suuuure)
Another proof that they all tried to pin it on Allison and this while completly untrue.
“Allison said, “just Nicole and Suzy, but we’re going to start working with India and Jay.””
Something is wrong here…
Can’t really defend this properly as it’s out of context… But it doesn’t make sense that Allison would say this as India said to Jay that she did it herself…
Not saying that Lauren lie but find strange compared to what was said by the concerned persons and the chronology…
Nicole started to have sex in 2016 (if i remember well) so the whole story doesn’t make sense (proof (mails, message) don’t support this and i just doesn’t fit with what was happening at the time).
I wish the whole context was in (or better, a recording) because i feel like this sentence is an interpretation of Lauren rather than a real sentence.
Anyway…100000 a year?no doubt she benefitted the crimes…
I will lay it our here the grand design of Keith and his minions.
When the dominoes fell into place, Emiluano, the unlimited funds the Bronfman sisters placed at his disposal, Sara wooing Igtet at Keith’s command because Igtet had political aspurations, and connections in oil rich Libya and hopes to one day be President of Libya…..Keith subtlely referred to his grand design.
Put in place NXIVM devotees in such countries with Keith the power behind the throne.
Keith openly spoke about not only creating his own currency but controlling the world’s markets through amassing untold wealth.
Thankfully he has been stopped.
See, folks, you are missing the forest for the trees.
Once it was mlm, then a get rich quick bogus self help thing called ESP. Along the way Keith saw how mallable these folks were.
What gets me is he’s such a snotty, sneering, degrading little man. Why follow someone like that?
Nancy, Lauren, Michelle were in it for the money.
The Bronfman sisters, power.
But some of the others….why stay after a bit? Only if they burned every bridge were rhey trapped but that takes years.
Keith wasn’t loving. Everything he touched he ruined. Except for the ready cash of the Bronfman’s NXIVM may have died out sooner.
But then the crimes may never have come to light.
Ragneesh was neve4 brought to justice.
Now we need to be wary of NXIVM south of the border, Clare and her flying monkeys, Dr. Roberts, Nikki Clyne and when Nancy and the like walk among us again.
Brandon lost his insulation job once the publicity affected the owner’s business.
Dr. Roberts is practicing at a hospital down state. Grrrrr makes me shudder.
Nancy is a hometown girl though she may go live with her aged parents.
Who will want any of these as neigubors? Work mates?
I’m not a great defender of shunning but I believe we must protect ourselves.
In the coming years I wonder….how many suicides from this group we will see.
What usually happens is the defending attorneys hire the defendants to work in their offce. Mary Kay Latournea does and she’s still bst shit crazy.
Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Knox Woods…I wish you well and hope you are soon rid of NXIVM pestilence.
Looks like Raniere and company is already yesterday’s news, it’s all about Epstein and Kelly now: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2019/7/17/20698553/jeffrey-epstein-r-kelly-mirror-images-criminal-justice-system
This column by the Chicago Tribune’s John Kass lays out how R. Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein were enabled by numerous people just like Raniere.
The Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis started investigating and writing about Kelly’s pedophilia as early as 2002.
The only prominent African-American who attacked R.. Kelly was the columnist Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Column: With both R. Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein, it takes a village.
John Kass
By JOHN KASS
| CHICAGO TRIBUNE |
JUL 17, 2019 | 5:00 AM
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/john-kass/ct-r-kelly-court-kass-20190717-fjedr5n5dffvtppber6cjot7ni-story.html
Scott,
Welcome to the world of the 24 hour everyday ‘click bait’ news cycle.
What did you expect to happen?
I am surprised Nxivm headlines have lasted this long.
Kelly and Epstein have already received far more major media coverage than Raniere got for the past 30+ years. It’s because he’s a relatively unknown.
“Allison said, “just Nicole and Suzy, but we’re going to start working with India and Jay.”
Lauren then asked, “when you say working, do you mean fucking?”
And Allison said yes.”
*****
When I read passages so such as the one above I think Miss Allison and Lauren should do a nice long stretch of training time.
I personally do not know what to think in regards to the sentencing at times.
The victims were coerced by their collateral. Allison and Lauren both used the collateral as leverage.
Sometimes I am in agreement with Shadowstate and not at other times.
Does anyone else flip flop in regards to their belief of what a proper punishment should be?
Penza had to throw Salzman under the bus, she’s an admitted felon and as bad as she is, she made Raniere look even worse. If Penza had shown Salzman any sympathy, the jury could have been sympathetic to pathetic Raniere as well.
Lauren wasn’t thrown under the bus.
Only a woman, not swayed by feminine tears, could lay it all out about the crimes Lauren committed.
Bravo to the prosecution.
Salzman was a prosecution witness, one would assume the prosecution would generally be a bit more “nice” to their own witness. She was thrown under the bus and run over several times, in reverse gear, back and forth. A male prosecutor could have easily laid out the crimes she committed, it doesn’t take a “…woman, not swayed by feminine tears,…” to do that.
I believe that at one point Nancy told her daughter Lauren that she could be “Queen of Mexico” presumably if she married Emiliano Salinas.
Lauren was as ambitious and as grasping as Nancy and the other NXIVM defendants, make no mistake about that.
“And this is the testimony about the dungeon. 9 Milltowne Drive, the sorority house the defendant told his slaves to purchase. And you can see here the warranty deed dated October 25, 2018, with Stinka, LLC signed by Nicole Clyne. She is one of the first line DOS slaves.”
I hope either Pea Onyu or Yolanda Cortez drops by to tell us about the sorority house’s torture dungeon.
And who owned the company “Stinka LLC”?
And who came up with that name?
Shadow – To quote a very bright Anonymous, “You Know Nothing.” Keep your made up beliefs to yourself.
I believe Shadow’s parents told him that he could be the King Queef of Chicago. Presumably if he married Oprah. Shadow is an ambitious and clingy chap, make no mistake about it.
Nutjob,
…..And to think a long time ago your advice to me was not to argue or debate with everyone’s favorite Shadow.
You stated I was wasting my time. LOL
Well apparently you have fallen down Shadowstate’s rabbits hole.
Nutjob you should follow your own advice.
niceguy : Well that because now it’s getting fun to argue against him…
He make a fool of himself way more than pre-trial and systematically.Without having proof on either side, it was an empty debate…
The trial proved that 99% of what he said was absolutely wrong and it’s funny to see him fight with lies.
Granted, sometime it’s frustrating but try it once a Week, you’ll see, it’s quite funny…
I agree with Anonymous. But I also feel the need to let others know that Shadow makes up material about NXIVM so that he can keep his posting addiction fresh. Frank has given him a platform that gives him credibility. If all of us let falsehoods from him completely go unchecked, others will take his words as fact.