Life in Prison: Part 1– Raniere’s Exploitation, Trafficking and Alien Smuggling of Sisters, Camila, Daniela, and Mariana

This is Part 1 of a series culled from the 59-page memorandum filed with the court, authored by the US Attorney for the Eastern District of NY, which recommends a life sentence for Keith Alan Raniere, our Vanguard.

The memo provides readers with the prosecution’s view of Raniere and insights into some of his deeds – when the monster was still loose among society. I will add my own comments and illustrations as the spirit [of Vanguard] moves me.

I have chosen to present the memorandum in parts, based on subjects. You can read the entire memorandum here.

This first in the series called “Life In Prison” is the government’s view of three sisters in Raniere’s harem – Mariana, Camila, and Daniela.

All three presently live in their native Mexico. Mariana, who is the mother of Raniere’s now three-year-old son, Kemar, and Camila, who is childless despite being promised to have Raniere’s avatar child, are both still deeply loyal to their glorious Vanguard.

They are, therefore, are a menace to society insofar as, like all Nxivm members, they will not hesitate to recruit for their porcine master and bring women into slavery for him.

On the other hand, Daniela left Raniere in 2012, after being confined to a room for almost two years, and has helped topple the scoundrel, including giving exclusive interviews to Frank Report well prior to Raniere’s arrest and after his arrest giving stunning testimony in the trial against him.

Here is Tanya Hajjar’s and the other DOJ prosecutor’s description of what the world’s smartest prisoner did to these three women when he was still a free beast to roam in the savage jungle.

Camila, Daniela, and Mariana

By Seth D. Dicharme

Acting US Attorney Eastern District of New York

Tanya Hajjar
Mark J. Lesko
Karin Orenstein
Assistant United States Attorneys

i. Sexual Exploitation of Camila

In September 2005, the defendant began a sexual relationship with Camila, then a fifteen-year-old child….. Camila and her family had arrived in Clifton Park at the defendant’s invitation, and he arranged for her to work as a maid in Nancy Salzman’s house, which was a distance away from her siblings…

Camila lived in a house with other members of the Nxivm community, including Monica Duran, a woman who—like Camila— would later become a first-line master in DOS….

On November 2, 2005 and again on November 24, 2005, the defendant took photographs of Camila constituting child pornography. Several of the photographs depict Camila lying on a bed fully nude. At least five photographs depict close-ups of Camila’s genitals.

Trafficking of Daniela

As proven at trial, between March 2010 and April 2012, Raniere, Lauren Salzman, and others trafficked Daniela for labor and services by confining her to a room for nearly two years on the threat of being sent to Mexico and withholding her birth certificate…

Raniere initiated a sexual relationship with Daniela, Camila’s sister, when Daniela was eighteen… After Daniela re-entered the United States in 2004, she began to work for Raniere, including by cleaning, organizing his books, digitizing his music collection, and compiling reports summarizing lengthy textbooks on various topics…

As he did in his relationships with other women, Raniere controlled Daniela’s diet and weight and insisted that Daniela keep the relationship secret…  When she was 20, Daniela became pregnant by Raniere. Raniere’s partner, Pamela Cafritz, paid for Daniela’s abortion and instructed Daniela to lie about the identity of the father to medical staff…

After Daniela developed romantic feelings for another man, Raniere told Daniela’s parents that Daniela had committed an “ethical breach.” … Raniere ordered that Daniela be confined to a room in her parents’ home without human contact. At Raniere’s instruction, Lauren Salzman threatened Daniela if she left the room, she would be sent to Mexico without any identification documents…

Daniela was confined to the room for nearly two years, during which she went months without human contact. Family members left meals for Daniela outside her door. Daniela was denied prompt medical care and slept on a foam pad on the floor. During this time, Daniela wrote hundreds of letters to Raniere with various proposals to “heal” her purported “ethical breach.”

Daniela believed that if she stopped writing, she would be sent to Mexico without money or her identification documents.

Lauren Salzman reported to Raniere regarding Daniela’s “progress,” but Raniere frequently told Salzman that Daniela was “game-playing” and manipulating Salzman and needed to stay in the room longer.

Raniere forbade Salzman from telling Daniela anything or giving her any information “about what was going on, on the outside with anybody.”

At one point, when Daniela cut off her hair, Raniere instructed Lauren Salzman to tell Daniela that Daniela would have to stay in the room until her hair grew back.

Over time, Daniela’s psychological health deteriorated: [S]ometimes I would beg: Please let me know. I don’t know why, just—just let me out. Nobody cared. My family didn’t. Nobody cared. So, it was also—it was also knowing that nobody wanted me. I’m in a world where nobody cares that I’m losing my life. . . . it was clearly never gonna end.”  Tr. at 2905 (Daniela’s testimony).

In approximately February 2012, after considering suicide, Daniela left the room. Daniela was then driven to Mexico at Raniere’s direction and was told that unless she completed book reports for Raniere, she would not receive her birth certificate. Daniela ultimately obtained a copy of her birth certificate with the assistance of an attorney working for a human rights commission.

Alien Smuggling

Raniere and his co-conspirators participated in efforts to recruit and secure immigration status for non-citizens so that they could work in one or more Nxivm-affiliated organizations or as his sexual partners. Among the individuals that Raniere and his co-conspirators assisted in entering or remaining in the United States unlawfully were siblings Marianna, Daniela, Adrian and Camila. By 2008, all four siblings were out of status and unlawfully in the United States.

Daniela

In 2004, Raniere arranged for Daniela to enter the United States unlawfully using a false identification document with the last name and date of birth of Ashana Chenoa, a deceased woman.

Daniela’s parents had paid for her to take a Nxivm course in Monterrey, Mexico, and encouraged Daniela to join the Nxivm community in Albany, New York.

On October 26, 2004, Daniela was denied entry into the United States and returned to her home town in Mexico.

Raniere instructed Daniela to fly to Toronto, Canada and enter the United States with a false sheriff’s ID card containing the name and date of birth of a deceased woman who, according to Raniere, bore a resemblance to Daniela.

On December 24, 2004, Daniela met Kathy Russell at the border. Russell handed Daniela the false sheriff’s ID bearing the name “Lisa Chenoa,” and drove Daniela across the border into the United States and back to the defendant’s community in Clifton Park, New York.

Camila

Between approximately 2011 and September 2018, Raniere directed his codefendant Kathy Russell to lease 120 Victory Way, a property in Clifton Park, New York.  The residence was used to house Camila, who did not have legal status within the United States.

Russell leased the property for over seven years under an assumed name and, each year, paid the rent in cash and in full.

Marianna

Raniere and his co-conspirators made significant efforts to assist Marianna in entering and remaining in the United States.

Marianna arrived in the United States in or about 2003, shortly after completing high school, in order to study the Nxivm curriculum with Raniere. In 2004, Marianna began a sexual relationship with Raniere and Pamela Cafritz. Sometime thereafter, Marianna’s status in the United States on a visitor’s visa expired.

Notwithstanding that Marianna had been living with Raniere without legal status in the Nxivm community for nearly a decade, Clare
Bronfman falsely claimed that Marianna had always been compliant with U.S. immigration laws and that Marianna had been employed by her father’s rock-drilling company in Mexico.

Frank Parlato