By: Omar W. Rosales
[Omar Rosales is author of ‘American Cult’ and a former Marine. Rosales has been featured in the NY Times, People Magazine, The Economist, and Fox News.]
As Keith Raniere, aka Vanguard, aka Prisoner #57005-177 approaches his sentencing, the question on everyone’s mind is – what will the great one say?
For years, Raniere sought to capture the attention of millions around the world. Well, he finally has his opportunity. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. Because what is at stake is his future, his legacy, and, most importantly, his life. So, what is a convicted swindler to do?
In the Federal system, sentencing is rote. The District Judge (also called The Court) has read and reviewed the PSR/PSI (Pre-Sentence Report, Pre-Sentence Investigation), the Probation Officer has made their recommendation, the attorneys on both sides have either agreed with the PSR or filed their objections.
The Court calls the hearing to order, the Defendant is asked to rise. Both the prosecution and defense then comment on the PSR. The Probation Officer and Government then note the recommended sentencing range in months. After the recommended sentence is explained to the Court, the Defendant is given the chance to address the court in what’s called the allocution.
At this point, most defendants are faced with three choices: 1) say nothing, 2) deny everything, or 3) accept responsibility and ask for leniency. Each choice has its risk and reward. Let’s go through the scenarios.
- Say nothing. Keith Raniere can just choose to stay silent. By keeping quiet, Keith would be hoping not to ignite the Court’s fury with his denial of the entire episode. He would also preserve all his appellate rights. This would be the smart thing to do.
- Deny everything. Keith could go out in a blaze of glory. By denying all the charges, proclaiming his innocence, and speaking about the usefulness of his technology, Keith could remain defiant to the end. In Keith’s mind, he could try to save his reputation, preserve his “good” name, and portray himself as a political prisoner – buried by a corrupt government conspiracy. Keith would note that he didn’t do the branding. Keith would claim that he didn’t confine Dani in her room. Keith would point out that he didn’t smuggle cash and people across the border and into the United States. All these criminal acts were done by others.
And Keith is poor. He has no assets. Doesn’t even own a car. Clothes used to just magically appear for him. Never mind that he wears thousand-dollar custom-tailored suits and Gucci loafers. These lavish items just show up for him.
- Accept responsibility. Raniere could also accept full responsibility and beg the Court for mercy. Keith could finally ‘come clean’ and admit to his role in the cult. He could acknowledge his crimes, apologize to his victims, and apologize to the Court for all the trouble he’s caused. I think the chances of this are very low.
So what will the Vanguard do? Will his skills at Rational Inquiry be effective? Will the self-proclaimed World’s Smartest Man try to save his skin? Or will he utter nothing, and maintain the illusory sanctity of his teachings, a la Ted ‘the Unabomber’ Kaczynski with his treatise on the ills of technology?
I think Keith will make a short statement. He’s such an egomaniac, I don’t think he can resist saying something. And it might be short. I think Keith will say something close to, “I’m completely innocent, I never branded anyone, my teachings and philosophy helped hundreds of thousands of people. We are building a new World. And I will never be ashamed of my teachings.” Or something to that effect.
Will it make a difference? Probably not. Will it affect his appeal? Probably not.
But, like most flimflam men and con-artists, he cannot keep his mouth shut. It isn’t in a crook’s nature not to be a crook. That’s in his blood. Keith Raniere cannot simply accept his fate. Everything is someone else’s fault. When in reality, the person that trapped and killed Keith was Keith Raniere. There is no other ending to this story.
Keith will probably die in prison.
Alone. Forgotten. Discredited. Ashamed.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
This homosexual actor, Christopher Jacob, was in NXIVM.
https://www.instagram.com/chris__jacot/?hl=fr
There is a connection between being homosexual, having low self-esteem, being in a cult, and being an actor.
Raniere was intimidated by most males, he looked for soy-boy snowflakes similar to the Anonymous comment posters on this website. LOL
The Sarah Lawrence College “sex-cultist” also kept incriminating evidence against himself. Is this like many serial killers who keep souvenirs of their victims?
“Investigators seized a polygraph machine along with a trove of other evidence against accused Sarah Lawrence sex-cult leader Lawrence Ray Authorities also seized some 40 journals, 44 hard drives, 15 floppy disks, five laptops, 15 flash drives and hundreds of thousands of emails and other electronic evidence. It’s not clear what material is on the polygraph machine or in the pieces of evidence that were seized.”
https://nypost.com/2020/02/26/raid-on-accused-sarah-lawrence-sex-cult-leader-lawrence-ray-finds-polygraph-journals/
Could be, and/or just plain stupidity.
The Insider
The NXIVM cult group has one very distinct thing in common.
The ORDER- if South Dakota, Arizona and other states- the leader(arrested)- and Keith Rainere did the same exact thing- they both have starved their victims. Warren- with making his wives and children eat rotten food out of garbage dumpsters- and Keith Rainere- making his women stay on a 500 calorie diet- NO Garlic- but they were malnourished and under weight- with their ribs showing.
As an insider- the ORDER houses, smell of rotten food- mostly- produce- because the women and children, do NOT receive Medicaid, or food stamps.
Keith Rainere would NOT allow his women to eat- unless he told them they could, and what was allowed. This is a major form of abuse and control.
Warren- starved his families to death- and the homes, are run down and not finished. All of these abusers, need to be put in places, where they can NEVER hurt anyone else ever again.
With Keith and Warren, there is brain washing, mind control and very little education. The children are forced to stop school, in 8th grade- for the “ORDER”. They are forced to go to forced work labor jobs.
Keith Rainere did the same thing with the forced labor slaves.
All of these cults need to be brought down. The leaders that are left need to be sentenced to life in prison- and these cults should end forever.
The Insider
I don’t think he stands a chance of winning on appeal. He is too big of a criminal.
Keith is a worm! He needs 30-50 years- sit and think about what he has done. He is the same kind of false prophet- that Warren Jeffs is- a child molester!!!! They both of are doing the same pyramid schemes, and they will both NOT end up in Heaven- but In purgatory, where they belong.
As the “Insider”- Keith will fail at all of his games, that he attempts with the law- he already has. He is a big LOOSER!!!!!!
People are trying to find out who I am I. This game- but I remain a source of information, and secrecy.
The “ORDER”, in South Dakota, Arizona and other places, are using the same “brain washing techniques in their people, as Keith used in NXIVM. They also have to say “goodbye” to their families for good when they leave the cult- where as- Keith attempted, to involve the whole family.
The other similarity- Keith NEVER wanted someone in NXIVM to be higher than he was- and in the “ORDER”- Warren Jeffs- the false prophet- sent people away to pray, and NEVER to return- which is still splitting up families.
In NXIVM, there were tests, to keep families together. Money is still a big thing- the more babies, the better- in the ORDER- to cause child labor- which is the same thing that Keith was doing, but he did NOT want women having babies.
In both cults- there are dangerous elements- and all of the leaders need to be brought down.
I will write again later!!!!
Raniere has a fourth choice – talk about being authentic or some other off-topic issue that has nothing to do with the trial or the sentencing hearing. Interestingly, this is similar to how Mr. Shadow answers questions, he provides responses, but not to the question being asked of him. LOL
5th choice is to commit suicide.
That would be difficult to do during the hearing.
” this is similar to how Mr. Shadow answers questions, he provides responses, but not to the question being asked of him”
Scott Johnson
As if anyone owes you a response, Scott.
The same way Amway owes you a billion dollars.
I never asked Amway for a billion dollars. However, I believe my efforts, along with others, have resulted in Amway losing many billions of dollars. LOL
And it’s not just me, you do that ALL the time. At least I know why people don’t like me, I give them a guilt complex for their apathy and laziness. LOL
I highly doubt that you give anyone on here a guilt complex. This proves you are delusional.
You’re probably right, lazy and apathetic people don’t know what caring about other people not getting scammed is all about. LOL
He’s going to win on appeal.
He’s going to prison for a very long time.
HE’S GOING TO PRISON FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
The sooner you accept that reality the better for you. Seriously. Focus on yourself. Look at real ways you can improve your life by doing real things in the real world.
It’s worth the effort.
So Nicki, your Name of the Day is Lana LaRue?
Does vmommy mean “Vanguardmommy?
Was that the Vanguard’s special nickname for you?
vmommy
http://en.gravatar.com/vmommy
I’d be surprised if he didn’t go for the first option.
I keep debating between him staying silent or making a statement to try to sway things in his favor. The one thing I can’t imagine is Raniere ever admitting any culpability, any wrongness on his part. There’s his narcissism talking. Usually he’d be fairly soft spoken or in lecture mode. Offer him anything that might sound like criticism and he’d take your head off.
“Offer him anything that might sound like criticism and he’d take your head off.”
For example, one time……(L) (fill in the blank).
Peaches –
I’m not going to share specific details of my life so you can stop baiting. My opinions on Raniere are formed from my experiences with and observations of him; your mileage with him may vary. Talking with the FBI, reading the testimony, and my own research on mental disorders on the anti-social spectrum helped me see some of my experiences in a clearer light.
I’m sure Raniere was telling false tales about my relationship with him just as he did to all his women – i.e., KU was not a girlfriend merely a roommate, other girlfriends were lesbians and, therefore, he couldn’t possibly be messing with them, various women were his special “one” who would carry his avatar baby. It was constant deceit to keep everyone off balance and compartmentalized. I adjusted my perspective to realize that my relationship with him was never what he acted it out to be.
And in the end, I can see that other people’s perspective on me as filtered through Raniere’s lens of lies is probably pretty skewed. That’s on him and his deceit, and it doesn’t demand responsibility from me to correct the picture. If people cannot tell at this point that he was a constant liar, manipulator, and gaslighter, nothing I say will change that. Like I’ve said, it’s nothing personal – he did it to everyone.
If he accepts responsibility and apologizes it hurts his appeals, which he is currently working on. If he says nothing it makes him look weak. I agree that he might make a brief statement that he had made the effort to make the world a better place, and helped all these people yada yada yada….I’m not sure what the point is in keeping him in prison for more than 15 years. He has served 2 and would have 13 left but cut that by 85% and he could be out at age 71. What harm is he going to do at that age while on parole or house arrest for a number of years?
Just curious what others think.
I would like to see him and his irresponsible Hench Women charged with assisted suicide of Gina and Kristin and the poisoning of Karen Unterier.
That poison in her hair is scary. Should be looked into. If he poisoned people, he needs a life sentence. Wish there was a private detective on all that. Is exuming possible?
It is possible.
Kim Snyder
Yes- me too- since the investigation of my ONLY beloved sister has come to a screeching halt. The whole crap of writing about the criminals is disgusting!!!!! That is ALL it has been for the past few months. Seems to me that the worms of NXIVM are much more important than the VICTIMS of NXIVM.
The WORMS of NXIVM are going away for a long time, and you will still have the VICTIMS left behind.
I have attempted to reach an investigator for the last few days, to NO AVAIL!!!!!! Kris has been left behind in the dirt- to talk about a killer/scam artist, and his evildoers. Doesn’t make much sense to me. There is much more infatuation with evil than there is to have some empathy and hurt for the families left behind.
I have been trying to reach the investigator- over and over to fill him in on some things- but he NEVER returns messages, and NEVER calls to find out what I know. Sad!!!!!!
Kris has been left in the dirt, as has Gina- Barbara- and others. All my family wants- is the conclusion to Kris’ investigation, and to find out, what interest I D Discovery has
in Part 2 of “The Lost Women of NXIVM”.
Kris has completely been left behind in the dirt!!!!! Sad and disgusting!!!!!
Kris, we love and miss you- and will NOT stop on this investigation!
Love Mom, Kim and Andy
What investigator are you talking about?
From my point of view the many victims of NXIVM have always been important and the Gangsters of NXIVM can all go hang.
I really don’t care about their “redemption”.
You can’t be serious. Raniere could be more dangerous in 13 years, after dreaming up new “tech” with all the spare time he’s going to have while in prison.
The reasons for keeping him in prison longer are:
1. Punishment;
2. Protect society; and
3. Serve as a deterrence to others.
Raniere should never see the light of day, except on his way to a new trial.