[Editor’s Note: Frank Report correspondent Dianne Lipson attended yesterday’s Curcio hearing – and contributed to this report. As usual, our thanks to Dianne for providing accurate and timely infromation].
***
Brooklyn NY, October 31. [Halloween].
A Curcio hearing was held in federal court on the matter of whether defendant Keith Alan Raniere wants to, and should be permitted to, keep his present attorney, Teny Geragos – who applied to work for the Department of Justice in the same district – the Eastern District of NY [EDNY] – that successfully prosecuted Raniere.
To the chase: Raniere and the Judge, Nicholas G. Garaufis, finally agreed on something.
The judge ruled:
ORDER: As discussed in today’s Curcio hearing and as laid out in Defendant Keith Raniere’s [809] Affirmation, Mr. Raniere wishes to waive any potential conflict arising from Ms. Geragos’s application to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The court finds that any potential conflict is waivable and that Mr. Raniere has knowingly and voluntarily waived such conflict. Ordered by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on 10/31/2019.
What happened…
Earlier this month – at the first Curcio hearing on this matter, Judge Garaufis told Raniere to confer with his Curcio counsel [Avraham Moskowitz] about the potential conflict-of-interest regarding Geragos after it was reported she had applied for a job in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the EDNY.
Raniere did that – and then signed an affidavit/attestation on October 10th indicating he was fine with things the way they are.
“It is my desire to continue to be represented by my current attorneys, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos and the firm of Brafman & Associates,” Raniere stated.
The prosecution was not satisfied. They wanted a second Curcio hearing so that the judge could ask Raniere specific questions about his willingness to go forward now that he knows Teny applied – and subsequently withdrew – her application to work at the DOJ EDNY.
This they did most likely not out of any concern for Raniere, but to make absolutely sure he could not use this at some point down the road as grounds for an appeal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar, a prosecutor in Raniere’s trial, initially informed Judge Garaufis of Geragos’ job application because it was a possible conflict for the defendant and had to be disclosed.
In Geragos’ original application with the U.S. Attorney’s office for the EDNY, she listed some of Raniere’s prosecutors as her references. Geragos is the daughter of celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos. She works at Brafman & Associates in Manhattan, the same firm that employs Marc Agnifilo, Raniere’s lead attorney.
“Ms. Geragos’s application to the office is no longer pending and it does not appear that Ms. Geragos is seeking employment with another United States Attorney’s office at this time,” Hajjar told the judge in a filing on October 23rd. “Under these circumstances, the likelihood that Ms. Geragos’s professional judgment on Raniere’s behalf would be affected by her personal interest in securing employment with this office or another U.S. Attorney’s Office is remote.”
That’s what yesterday was all about: A lot of a hullabaloo about nothing.
***
When Raniere first entered the courtroom, he seemed to be almost hopping – or walking very briskly – [some thought given his athletic ability he might have planned to judo flip the guards and then sprint out the door]. He was wearing a tan prison outfit.
It seemed that a short sleeve button down tan shirt he wore with his tan prison pants was a little oversized as it – untucked – went over a considerable portion of his posterior giving him a clown-like look – or better yet – that he was wearing an ill-fitted prison outfit as a Halloween costume for comedic effect.
Raniere had slightly longer hair than at his last hearing – which means the infestation of head lice – which had previously required his head to be shaven – has not returned.. His face was of normal color – not the deep red of previous hearings.
During the hearing, Raniere whispered something to his attorney who, in turn, reminded Judge Garaufis that Geragos is not seeking to be employed at the DOJ at this time.
The judge asked about the timeline: When did Geragos make her application to the Justice Department. He wanted to know whether it was before, during, or after the trial. It was August 12th, well over a month after the trial.
At one point, Garaufis reminded Raniere that his case is “not over”.
“At the end of the trial, it became my responsibility to impose a sentence,” Garaufis said to the alert looking Vanguard of Nxivm.
Garaufis asked Raniere several questions about his understanding of the potential conflict and willingness to continue being represented by Geragos.
He said he understood and wanted Geragos to remain on his team.
He answered most of the judge’s questions with a soft “Yes” or “I do.”
The judge pointed out that Geragos might still apply for the DOJ position. And so she might be trying to please the government with what she did on his case.
Raniere said he understood but still wanted to waive the conflict.
At one point, in the interest of transparency, AUSA Hajjar said that she had asked Geragos to speak to a group of Columbia Law School students and that Geragos had complied with her request.
Raniere’s lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, who was in attendance, pointed out that no one ever asked him to speak anywhere in any fashion.
People in the gallery laughed.
The judge said “Well, this is not about you.”
Again, people laughed.
The judge mentioned that the pre-sentencing report on Raniere has not yet been received and is being worked on.
At the end of the hearing, Raniere got up sprightly. He looked in the direction of the gallery as he was leaving the courtroom.
Even though Toni Natalie was not there, she will probably claim he was looking for her, much like she claimed in her book – that he often ignored everyone else in the courtroom and sought to look only at her. That’s a total fabrication according to others who were at the hearings and at the trial.
Raniere faces the possibility of life in federal prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for January 17th.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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[…] Curcio Hearing: Raniere Chooses to Keep Teny Gerago as Lawyer- Judge Approves […]
Ranieri wants her under the mistaken assumption that he can have conjugal visits with his slim long haired pretty lawyer.
Taunting Toni said every time Raniere would look her way she would flip him the bird by rubbing her nose with her middle finger.
Than she told me, Raniere would respond by pushing up his glasses with his middle finger.
What Toni forgets in her narcissist mind, is Raniere is blind as a bat. He didn’t have the correct prescription of glasses. Toni sat in the very last row, as far away from Raniere as anyone in the courtroom could get.
Raniere couldn’t see her close enough to see her flipping him off. Raniere has always pushed his glasses up with his middle finger.
Had Raniere felt harrassed, don’t you think he would of done everything within his power to get Toni Natalie thrown out of the courtroom?
That’s Toni Natalie for you, always telling stories of how powerful she is. She spent every hearing and trail day believing she was flipping Raniere off, several times a day.
Toni did it beautifully also don’t forget.
Raniere had very little power in the courtroom. The public has a Constitutional right to attend trials. It would have been very difficult to detect Natalie rubbing her nose with her middle finger and conclude it was being disruptive in order to throw her out.
If it is even a true story.
I wouldn’t doubt that this story is true. They are both little children, and act in childish ways.
As much as I despise Raniere, I agree with Nice Guy.
Teny Geragos made her bed when she accepted being on the defense team of the Vanturd.
Teny Geragos needs to see this through to the end. Raniere’s bed bugs, bad breath, creepy as he is, she has to wait until every appeal is over.
Those of us that know the smelly one the best know this is a long way from being over. Sorry Teny, no new job for you unless you leave your current law firm for another defense law firm.
Geragos can only move to the DOJ when there are openings and she removed herself from consideration. It has NOTHING to do with Raniere’s defense, as she wouldn’t have been allowed to be involved in his appeals.
Johnson you have to realize you are commenting to a person that agrees with “niceguy”… not any credibility there.
I couldnt help chucking reading this article.
I’m trying to get a visual of his appearance yesterday, if someone could be kind enough to tell me.
Did he have his glasses?
Approximately how many inches of hair does he have now?
Was his hair his natural color or was it dyed with ink?
Shaven or bearded?
Has his ass and stomach gotten larger?
Was his jail uniform a dark shit brown color or lighter shade of shit brown?
Thank you
Raniere wants to keep Geragos on the case because he knows it’s the probably the last woman he will ever see in person, except for an occasional manly female guard.
Re Teny Geragos & Curcio hearing:
No criminal defendant should be asked to sign off on giving their attorney permission to work for the prosecution, at least while the appeals process is ongoing.
No criminal defendant should be put into a spot where they feel some obligation or level of pressure to please their attorney.
I hate Keith Raniere. Fair Due-process is a right guaranteed under the constitution.
Ask yourselves: if you were in the exact position as Keith Raniere, how would you feel?
Is it fair?
Dumb comment. Job openings aren’t timed for when no trials are in process. Geragos wouldn’t have been allowed to work on Raniere’s sentencing or appeals. This hearing was a mere formality, and another great opportunity for Agnifilo to crack a joke and get paid for it.
WHAT? Toni Natalie wasn’t in court to taunt the Vanguard? Unheard of, how could she miss out on such an opportunity?
Maybe Toni is afraid she might be called into the DOJ’s office and be given a spanking for her taunting of a federal prisoner on trial?
How about Toni Natalie’s abuse of victims of Ex-NXIVM members or the Snyder family? Maybe the DOJ or the FBI want to talk to her about those things?
Natalie’s abuse of anybody isn’t a criminal issue, it’s a civil one. The FBI/DOJ focuses on criminal issues, not civil ones.
Oh yes. I forgot she taunted him by wearing that dumb stripey dress, which she said would remind him every day that he would be looking through prison bars for the rest of his life. She was certain he would be looking for her every day. Silly, foolish lady