Allison Mack’s Brother, Shannon, Appeals to Judge to Show Mercy to His Sister

On January 18, 2018, Eastern District of New York United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak signed a search warrant for the Yahoo! e-mail account of Keith Raniere [keithraniere@yahoo.com.] On February 1, 2018, Yahoo! produced the information.

According to FBI Special Agent Lever, on August 10, 2015, Allison Mack sent an email to Raniere with the subject titled “vow 3” and included an attached letter. In the letter, Mack used the terms “slave” and ”master” to refer to herself and Raniere. The letter pledged Mack’s “full and complete life” to Raniere.

The letter also identified “collateral” to “cement” this vow made by Mack to Raniere.

Mack’s collateral was described as:

(1) a letter regarding Mack’s mother and father that would “destroy their character”

(2) a contract that transferred custody of any children birthed by Mack to Raniere, if Mack broke her commitment to Raniere

(3) a contract that transferred ownership of Mack’s home if the commitment to Raniere was broken

(4) a letter addressed to social services alleging abuse to Mack ‘s nephews.

Despite her offering her then master Keith Raniere collateral to destroy the reputations of her family, the family of Allison Mack is standing by her. The following is a letter that was sent by her elder brother, Shannon Mack, to Judge Nicholas Garaufis.

By Shannon Mack

[Headings added by Frank Report for online readability.]

To the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis United States District Court

Dear Judge Garaufis,

This letter is to serve as a character reference for Allison Mack.

From my earliest memories to her late teenage years, I knew Allison to be a sweet, passionate, intelligent person with a deep sense of justice and a strong interest in helping others. Her primary passion, however, definitely lay in the area of the dramatic arts. From a very young age, Allison developed an intense interest in musical theater, film, and television. She began acting at a very young age, and this pursuit became the main focus of her life.

At age 18, she moved away from home, and shortly thereafter became a series regular on the Warner Brothers TV series “Smallville.” She worked on “Smallville” for ten years, during which she mostly lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the show filmed. During this time, I didn’t see Allison very often.

We would see her at my parents’ home once or twice a year. Our interactions were always amicable, but seldom did we have time to talk very much — she was often running off to a destination such as the Middle East, China, or another exotic locale. That said, Allison was always very generous and helpful with the considerable means she was earning.

Rather than accumulating a mountain of student debt, I was able to complete [redacted].

The First Time He Heard About NXIVM

I remember vividly the first time I heard from her about NXIVM (which she then referred to as ESP).

She came over to my apartment for lunch — just herself, me, [redacted], tremendously excited about this new self-development course she had taken with a brilliant man, Keith Raniere. She was anxious for me to become involved as well.

At the time, I was taking an Educational Psychology class and learning about modalities of therapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The concepts she related to me sounded very familiar from my own studies.

I remember wondering, “Why would someone pay thousands of dollars for this information when I learned it for the cost of a textbook and college class?” It seemed, however, that Allison was happy, so I left the issue alone and just supported her as best I could.

Some Happy Times Before Things Took a Dark Turn

During her early years in NXIVM [redacted]. At first, she did spend more time with us. The wealth she had accumulated from “Smallville” allowed her to be around us as frequently as she wanted.

Christmas 2011 remains a wonderful memory of family time. [Redacted] At the time, Allison was living in a brownstone in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. [Redacted].

Around 2012, Allison moved to Clifton Park, New York, to be closer to the NXIVM community. I was crestfallen as I felt she would have been much better off living in the city and continuing to study at the Public. She became increasingly committed to NXIVM at this time, however, and seemed to lose much of her interest in theatre and even acting in general.

[Redacted], my wife and I noticed that she was “the wrong color.” Her skin had an orange appearance, akin to someone who has eaten way too much beta carotene. She was also unhealthily skinny and had bags under her eyes. She looked exhausted. It still pains me to see pictures of her from that time.

For the next several years, we saw Allison maybe once a year at our parents’ house. The strange diet and phone calls continued and even intensified. Her manner was always very vivacious and energetic, but I always got the feeling of a certain manufactured enthusiasm.

I also remember reading about a kind of euphoria that can accompany starvation and thinking that might be contributing to Allison’s apparent state of mind.

It Was Clear Mack Was in an Unhealthy Situation

Her health and mental state continued to deteriorate. In 2016, she came to our house for Thanksgiving dinner, claiming that she was on day seven of a 10-day cleanse, and ate absolutely nothing. She was almost in a daze the whole time.

She would often absent herself to have a phone or video call with her “people” in New York. While she acted caring and loving, it was clear that she was in an unhealthy situation that was taking a toll on her.

In the spring of 2017, Allison performed in a play in San Diego, California. [Redacted]. My wife and I attended the play and spent some time with Allison. She seemed very happy to be acting again. I remember feeling like she’d established a healthy separation from what I then had firmly decided was a cult.

In the fall of that year, I read the now-infamous article in the New York Times, which included an interview with Sarah Edmondson about branding and other violations occurring at NXIVM events. Within days of reading this, I received an anonymous email at work saying that Allison was in very bad trouble and needed help. I felt completely powerless but replied that I would do whatever I could to help.

At this point, I had not heard from Allison in several months but was firmly convinced she had been completely subsumed by this cult. There seemed to be very little left of the Allison I had grown up with. Subsequently, she was arrested and placed under house arrest.

[Redacted]

The Start of Mack’s Healing Process

This was the start of the healing process that we could see for Allison.

Allison began to attend church services and classes at [redacted]. She made new friends among her classmates and re-connected with several friends from high school. She seemed to have lost most or all interest in being an actor, but she discovered a new love for the world of higher education.

She devoured (and continues to devour) books on feminist theory, philosophy, comparative religion, and psychology. She clearly thrives on the academic studies I wish she had pursued decades ago.

Looking at it now, I feel like Allison’s twelve years in NXIVM were almost a bad dream. She had become completely lost in that organization, and it had swallowed her whole life.

Allison’s commitments to social justice and helping others have returned as she has become her “original self’ again after all these years. She has left all the ideas and people of NXIVM out of her life and replaced them with more solid, academic, and humanistic values. Her friends share and reflect these values, as does our family.

‘The Allison We All Loved Has Re-Emerged’

In the past year or so [redacted]. It has taken quite a while to rebuild the trust Allison broke due to her participation in NXIVM. However, with the continued [redacted] and self-development and improvement that she is pursuing, I have every confidence that the original Allison, the Allison we all loved, has re-emerged.

Though originally hurt by Allison’s actions in NXIVM/DOS, my wife and I whole-heartedly forgive and support the Allison we know today.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my lengthy discourse here. I am easy to reach should you have any questions.

Best Regards.