U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis announced in court yesterday that because the requisite Pre-Sentencing Report on Keith Alan Raniere won’t be finished until late November, he will not be sentencing the man once known as Vanguard until some time in 2020.
Although the judge did not indicate when he will be sentencing any of Raniere’s co-defendants – Clare Bronfman, Allison Mack, Lauren Salzman, Nancy Salzman, and Kathy Russell – it seems unlikely that any of those will be taking place any time soon.
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Curcio Hearing Extended to October 31st
The purpose of yesterday’s Curcio hearing was to allow Raniere to voice his opinion on whether Teny Geragos’ application to become an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) posed a conflict-of-interest – and, if so, whether he would waive it. Geragos was a member of Raniere’s defense team during his trial earlier this year – which resulted in him being found guilty on all seven felony counts.
Raniere was represented at the Curcio hearing by Avraham (“Avi”) Moskowitz – who also represented him at a previous Curcio hearing (The previous hearing concerned the question of whether Raniere, the Salzmans, Mack and Russell wanted to keep their attorneys – all of whom were being paid for by Bronfman – or have new attorneys appointed for them by the court).
No final decision was reached at yesterday’s hearing because Moskowitz indicated that “Mr. Raniere needs some time to consider this issue a little bit longer”.
There is also a question as to whether Raniere has the ability to waive the conflict-of-interest if it, in fact, exists. Or as Judge Garaufis succinctly stated, “It is what it is, once we figure out what it is”.
The hearing will resume on October 31st – which just happens to be Halloween (My guess is that Raniere is going to come to court dressed as a federal prisoner).
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Lots More Going on Behind the Scenes
While other media outlets reported on yesterday’s hearing – and took notice of Raniere’s appearance – none of them noted some of the subtleties of what was going on.
To begin with, Raniere was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs. No more concerns about how jurors might be negatively influenced by seeing him that way.
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In addition, he was also dressed in prison “travel scrubs” – the type of outfit that is handed to a prisoner who will be traveling outside the prison after the prisoner has gone through a full body search (Squat, Pick ‘em up, Cough, Turn-around and do it again!). No need for Raniere to don the sweater-and-pants outfits that he wore throughout his trial.
And just as they do with every prisoner who is considered to be a pain-in-the-ass, the prison guards gave Raniere a well-wrinkled set of duds to wear to court.
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Also, all the reports noted that Raniere is now sporting a buzz cut. But not one of them noted the reason for the new look.
As Frank Report disclosed in an exclusive inside report back on August 20th, Raniere had his hair shorn after he developed a serious case of head lice while he was in the SHU at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
As we reported at the time, the Bureau of Prisons has its own treatment regimen for prisoners who have head lice: cut off all their hair.
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Lastly, one of the reports noted that as he was being led out of the courtroom for his trip back to MDC, Raniere pushed up his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. Regular readers of Frank Report know that Raniere has had all sorts of issues with his glasses since he’s been incarcerated at MDC – and that the last pair he was given were intentionally made not to fit because of all his previous bitching.
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What About the Other Defendants?
At this point, it is unclear when the other defendants in the case will be sentenced.
The original sentencing dates were as follows:
– Nancy Salzman: July 25th
– Clare Bronfman: July 25th
– Kathy Russell: July 31st
– Lauren Salzman: September 11th
– Allison Mack: September 11th
– Keith Raniere: September 25th
But those dates were scuttled by Judge Garaufis who adjourned all the sentencings sine die – which simply means that no new dates were established.
So, while Raniere goes back to his cell at MDC, the others languish in various levels of home confinement.
And all of them, of course, are still being electronically monitored by ankle bracelets that are a constant reminder that they are convicted criminals facing prison terms.
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Are There Other Reasons for the Delayed Sentencings?
Frank Report previously asked several attorneys why they thought the sentencing dates had been delayed.
All of them cited the fact that the judge had just finished presiding over Raniere’s 27-day trial – and needed a break before taking on the very important task of sentencing.
They also all agreed that compiling the “Pre-Sentencing Reports” would likely take more time than usual because of the many off-the-grid activities of the defendants. This is particularly true for Raniere who, although he claimed to be a renunciate, actually owned or controlled many assets (He recently claimed to the court that he owns 10% of First Principles, Inc. – a claim that could result in him being charged with perjury because of his prior sworn statement that the only asset he owned was a 50% interest in the townhouse located at 3 Flintlock Lane).
Another possibility that was cited by some of the attorneys is that one or more of the defendants may be trying to get a reduced sentence by offering up information and details about other criminal acts involving the NXIVM cult and the public officials who allowed NXIVM to operate with impunity. This would seem to be a real possibility – especially for Nancy Salzman who was the first to plead guilty in the case and who did so without any plea deal in place.
Of course, it’s also possible that the sentencings have been delayed because one or more of the defendants is going to be indicted on new charges in the Northern District of New York. If, as we have been assured on several occasions, the investigation is still going on, then this is a very real possibility.
Especially because Grant C. Jaquith, the current U.S. Attorney for the NDNY, has been kicked upstairs to a federal judgeship. No word yet on who will replace Jaquith but, hopefrully, it’s someone whoi is not afraid to take on the entrenched political machines in the Capital District.
Four of the charges that were originally part of the EDNY case were dismissed because of jurisdictional issues – and referred to the NDNY for follow-up.
These four charges are as follows:
– Sexual Exploitation of a Child – Jane doe 2: Keith Raniere
– Sexual Exploitation of a Child – Jane Doe 2: Keith Raniere
– Possession of Child Pornography: Keith Raniere
– Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft: Keith Raniere, Clare Bronfman & Others
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Some Good Things Will Result From the Delayed Sentencings
Even though we’re all anxious to find out how much prison time each of the NXIVM defendants will be serving, there are some good things that will result from the delays.
For one thing, Clare may actually have time to pass her GED test.
And Nancy may snag one or more fools into taking her $25,000 counseling course.
Lauren will have more time to find someone to take care of her cat while she’s away.
Allison will have more time to take classes and attend church.
Kathy will be able to participate in a holiday ballet.
And Keith will get another one of MDC’s “Christmas Bags”.
Viva Executive Success!
Raniere must be terribly busy with appointments and speaking engagements scheduled back to back during his tenure at MDC. “Mr. Raniere needs some time to consider this issue a little bit longer,” says his attorney. (Teny is a skinnyish gal with okay long hair and not too bad of a face. Flabturd, the MDC guru, just wants to fuck around with her life for awhile, as is his eminent domain to practice judiciously, as the international purveyor of Self-Help.) Such a ponderous decision could take many years to make, if not decades. He will have to get back to you, in due time.
The rabidly sought-after Mr. Raniere has many other important duties and needs time for his personal life, too. His unfortunate circumstances with his eyeglasses not fitting has been taking hours away from each of his days. Then there is the need for constant personal grooming. Mr. Raniere’s fingers are exhausted, and no one will assist him as he faces the ritual of repeatedly searching each pore of skin and each hair follicle for any remnants of symbiotic invasions. Scabies and head lice are a fulltime job. Often Raniere goes through hours of assiduous labor just trying not to contaminate his OWN 1.75 ounce snack bag of Doritos.
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Claviger, thanks for keeping up with the updates.
Would Raniere’s attorneys really have made that filing claiming his ownership interest in First Principles, if it might subject him to perjury charges? Are they figuring he has some wiggle room on that first disclosure when it comes to complex or questionable assets, or are they just doing what he tells them even if it’s against their best judgment?
Perhaps Raniere is “considering” what sort of conspiracy he is up against (though, of course, he’s not supposed to be a victim according to his own doctrine) with his “this is not justice” conviction and then the shuffling of some of his highly paid defense team to the prosecutor’s office. Perhaps he can come up with something for his remaining followers to grasp on to, tying it in to his theory about the Illuminati.
Speaking of which, my new conspiracy theory is that most or all of the rest of them are in the same boat (or sea of doubt) as Maxwell, and are either dead and stacked up in a freezer somewhere, or else fled the country. Their sentencings are just being held up in the wake of the Epstein debacle, as the White House and/or the Deep State figure out how to stage enough plausibly spaced out “suicides” and “accidents” with defrosted corpses, and/or release the news that they let people slip away.
p.s. What is the protocol if I send inmate Raniere a letter, should I include a stamp and perhaps a return envelope if I hope he might get back to me with his thoughts?
While I don’t think it’s probable that Raniere will get charged with perjury, that possibility is definitely there.
I doubt that his trial attorneys advised him to interfere with the asset forfeiture actions that have already been approved by the same judge who’s going to sentence him. Nor do I think that his Curcio attorney will advise him to interfere with Teny Geragos being hired by the EDNY.
I think Raniere is likely ignoring his attorneys’ advice – and trying to figure out some way to utilize what he perceives as “leverage” to get a better deal for himself. He has yet to figure out that he has no leverage – and that being perceived as an obstructionist is only going to lead to worse results.
Raniere has access to postage stamps (They — along with Macks – are the common currency among prisoners at MDC). But it might increase your chances of getting a reply if you enclose a SASE with your letter (It’s also possible that the SASE will get confiscated when they open your letter to him).
what happened to ketih’s site???
https://www.keithraniereconversations.com
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Times Union to host NXIVM post-trial panel discussion with Toni Natalie and Rick Ross.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Times-Union-to-host-NXIVM-post-trial-panel-14437833.php
October 31st is also supposed to be Brexit day, the day that Britain leaves the EU. The majority of Brits voted to leave the EU in a democratic referendum and Parliament has fought the democratic vote of the people ever since. Vanturd will be dressed as a prisoner on Halloween. I hope us Brits won’t still be prisoners of the EU.
Brexit is long overdue.
Britain lasted for almost 1000 years as an independent country and did quite well for itself.
If Boris Johnson manages to get Brexit done, then jolly good for him.
If his sister Rachel Johnson does not like it then she can pull another “Lady Godiva “stunt on TV.
“I would of course walk down Whitehall in my birthday suit to stop Brexit”
Rachel Johnson 7 months Sunday February 17th 2019
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/rachel-johnson-topless-sky-news-brexit-debate-trick/
Shadow – Jo Johnson, brother of Boris, has just resigned as a Minister and a Member of Parliament. Another sibling throwing a hissy fit because Boris used a tactic that was deemed unfair. Rather hypocritical considering all of the dirty tactics that the EU loving Remainers used. Thank you for the support.
Pyriel, I have a number of British friends who are pro-Brexit and were overjoyed three years ago when Brexit passed.
And the Establishment has pulled every dirty trick in the book to intimidate patriotic Brits.
One of my friends is very pro-UKIP and all for Gerald Batten.
She calls herself a UKipper and attends all the rallies she can.
My heart is with the Patriots of Britain.
A very small group of scoundrels have failed to traduce parliament. UKIP Hahahahahah.
Pyriel and shadow, poor old dears, clinging to your last refuge of nationalist bullshit.
CBA – The Remainers have been responsible for a lot of traducing, slights and insults in their attempts to hide the fact that the majority voted to leave the EU. It baffles me how they overlook the simple fact that Remainers lost a democratic vote and then have the hypocrisy to point in the other direction. It doesn’t matter how many times you use insults, you know you are denying democracy. Unless you’re as delusional as Allison Mack. Wanting to take back control of my own country is not a sin.
Clutch those pearls.
CBA – I’m more likely to look like a Goth or hippie, depending on how I feel on the day. You obviously have a fetish for pearls though. Keep dreaming about Diane Abbot. She may fulfil your fantasies.
Krclaviger,
Thanks as always for the fine reporting.
Happy National Coloring Day!
Let these NXIVM Clowns stew in their own juices.