This is Part 1 of my report on the sentencing memorandum of Lauren Salzman who is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, July 28.
The sentencing memorandum is in from Lauren Salzman’s defense attorney and filed with the court. I’d like to publish it but I only have the unredacted version.
It is a powerful document. But then again, I got the benefit of reading the unredacted memorandum which is so much more powerful than the redacted version.
By the way, I did not ask for the unredacted version, but got it, nonetheless. If Lauren Salzman’s lawyers wish to contact me about how I came to get the unredacted memorandum, I will tell them. It may be helpful to them. My phone number is 305-783-7083.
By the way, in explaining to them, should they ask, how I got the unredacted version, I will not, of course, reveal my sources. I can never reveal my sources or I won’t have any more sources.
In any event, there was so much redacted from the public version that I was momentarily in a bit of a quandary about what to reveal, if anything, that was redacted. I decided to reveal only that which might help Lauren Salzman.
For when you read the whole memorandum, it is much more compelling. It shows a side of her that must not be missed for one to truly appreciate what happened to her from her perspective and especially what happened to her since she left Keith Raniere.
I am going to reveal some of the redacted material – and it will be published below and in subsequent posts in RED but I think I will spare anything that might embarrass others or her – and reveal only that which completes the story of Lauren – and perhaps might bring to others who read about her a little more sympathy.
I agree with those who say Lauren does not need to go to prison. Probation is sufficient, in my opinion, for truly she has paid a price, maybe more than the fair price for her crimes – and indeed, there may be some grey areas where they might be barely crimes – since she lacked the requisite intent to harm others.
Of course, it is not my decision to make but that of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis.
“To go to the judge is to go to justice,” said Aristotle. “The judge restores equality. It is as though there was a line divided into unequal parts and he took away that by which the greater segment exceeds the half and added to it the smaller segment. Therefore, the just consists in having equal amounts before and after the transaction.”
In this transaction, Lauren Salzman needs some life restored to her, not more taken away.
Here is the memorandum, Part 1, written by her Phoenix Arizona attorneys, Hector J. Diaz and Andrea S. Tazioli. In subsequent posts, I will provide more of the memorandum.
I have skipped some parts of it, as irrelevant and have provided the reader with the standard ellipses to show that; I have also eliminated some citations and other incidental information and did not even bother to provide ellipses, for my convenience. My notes will be in [brackets, bold and in italics.]
The memorandum begins with:
Preliminary Statement
Lauren Salzman is a 45 year old single female with a history of emotional/psychological abuse, as both a participant and victim in Keith Raniere’s criminal schemes…. Shortly after graduating from college, she joined an organization [Executive Success Programs later NXIVM] she believed, through her efforts and those of others, would change the world.
… she believed that ESP/NXIVM was her future. Her dedication and commitment to achieving the highest human potential also served, in some respects, as her downfall. A downfall that resulted from a complex and systematic indoctrination that justified her criminal conduct under the misguided perception that she was helping others.
[This is a key to her entire case – she really did believe that what she was doing was good. Her lawyers call it indoctrination – others might argue that she was compelled to take a plea bargain and admit she intended to harm others when that was not at all the case.]
As a twenty-year member of ESP/NXIVM, a first-line master in DOS, a former romantic partner of Raniere’s, and co-defendant in this case, Lauren provided the government with material and invaluable information regarding Raniere and all co-defendants in this matter.
Lauren’s four-day testimony at Raniere’s trial was incredibly compelling. On the stand, Lauren was honest and sincere, and she took full responsibility for the crimes that she committed in this case. Lauren’s trial testimony, coupled with her full and complete cooperation with the government, significantly contributed to Raniere’s conviction on all counts.
Lauren’s testimony was just one small portion of her cooperation with the government. In fact, Lauren spent countless hours meeting with the government and preparing for trial. It was during these lengthy meetings that Lauren demonstrated her commitment to ensuring that the government had a complete comprehension of Raniere’s criminal conduct and DOS.
It was clear from these sessions that Lauren had a complete shift in her perceptions—denouncing Raniere and the corrupt NXIVM and DOS practices and exhibiting a full appreciation of the wrongfulness of her conduct. It has been over two years since Lauren took the stand at Raniere’s trial.
Since, Lauren has spent these last 26 months painstakingly reviewing and reflecting upon the last 20 years of her life as a member of ESP/NVIVM and a devout follower of Raniere. She has been working diligently to overcome and unwind her indoctrination into the program and Raniere’s teachings.
[This next part is redacted. I am going to publish it because it shows that Lauren says she is suffering from the same problems that many of the women of DOS claimed they have suffered from. This tends to support that she is a victim too. If she is a perpetrator and a victim – the line between the two is the most fascinating aspect of it all.]
Specifically, Lauren has engaged in meaningful psychotherapy, and she is working conscientiously with her mental health provider to overcome the traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and dissociative moments that have plagued her life over the years.
[A footnote refers to a letter from her therapist, whose name I will redact, which is included in the unredacted memorandum as one of some 20 letters of support Lauren provided to the judge in this package.]
In addition to working on her mental health, Lauren has also immersed herself into a new field of work and career path which has been extremely restorative for her as she enters a new chapter in her new life, free from ESP/NXIVM and Raniere.
[That new career path, surprisingly – and we shall learn more about it later – is the field of dog grooming.]
Importantly, Lauren has also spent a great deal of time healing her relationships with family members and close friends. Specifically, Lauren [redacted –] has served as a caretaker for both her parents who are battling their own respective serious health issues, as well her elderly and ailing grandparents.
[The reference is to the letters that her mother, Nancy Salzman, and her father, Michael Salzman, wrote to the judge. The mention of these in the memo was redacted but it is fair to mention them since the letters themselves were not redacted. It is of significance since Raniere wanted Lauren to shun her father because he refused to fire a woman, Nina, one of the so-called NXIVM 9 and because, out of honor, he would not be so dictated to by Raniere. Lauren did indeed shun her father for several years and now, oppositely of the world she lived in with Raniere, she is again reunited with her father and has offered him caretaking. There should be nothing secret about that.]
To be clear, not a day goes by that Lauren is not remorseful for her conduct. She wholeheartedly regrets her involvement in NXIVM and DOS and further regrets that through her actions, she knowingly propagated Raniere’s lies and deceit, and caused harm to so many individuals. Through her rehabilitative conduct and actions over the last two and a half years, Lauren has not only denounced Raniere and his teachings, but she has taken deliberate measures to regain her life back and ensure that she never succumbs to this type of manipulation and psychological abuse ever again.
[…] Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
So Lauren’s attorneys think their client is an angel. Big surprise!
She believed she was making a better world? All we know for a fact is that she claims that was her sincere belief. Raniere also claims that was his sincere belief. Does he deserve a get out of jail card too? Why not?
She was a first line DOS master. Which means she had slaves. She sincerely believed this made for a better world? Masters and slaves? You gotta be kidding me.
Defense lawyers need to put up some kind of excuse for their client’s misdeeds, I get it. But this strains credulity.
Lauren aided the prosecution, she testified against Raniere. She has to be rewarded for this. It’s an ugly but necessary compromise. Let’s not pretend that her likely light sentence will be anything more than that. Because she, for years, aided and abetted Raniere and his criminal racket. She profited from it and was wholeheartedly, enthusiastically devoted to it. She and Raniere are cut from the same cloth. And her glorious new life as a dog groomer doesn’t change that one iota.
Lauren deserves at least 3 years, her mother 30 years.
Yes, I agree for both of them
[…] Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
Finally! The dogs have their day!
Never trust a bunch of allegedly compassionate adults who don’t eat meat for “ethical” reasons and take that many walks without ever bringing along some shelter dogs.
Seriously. What a waste.
And I also don’t trust a “loving and caring” community with so few animal companions. No matter how many vegans reside there.
Further proof of their joyless, no garlic, penance fetish, sad, celibacy except for Keith, sleep-deprived, everything revolves around Keith’s sex drive, porn on demand, starve yourself if you are a woman, no masturbating, abortion as birth control, dumb lifetime branded vow, blackmail, centric world…
That’s not even mentioning midnight volleyball and God awful a Capella weirdness. Or pay for my birthday v- week. Or STDs.
The Nxivm community was a dark and dogless place.
Lauren: keep moving toward the light!
There are dogs, cupcakes and laughter in the light.
We don’t sexually blackmail each other here.
Friends just give their word – with no collateral! We have real relationships! And trust! No sick secrets!
People have normal eyebrows in the light.
And we do as we wish with our own pubes!
Keep moving out of the dark, Lauren.
The dogs will guide you. They are very good boys and girls.
Dog grooming? Oh dear, this IS worrisome. Lauren hasn’t had a good track record, “tending” to others, at all.
Are the dogs being treated harshly, punitively? Will the dogs be groomed into horrifying versions of hairless cats?
Lauren Salzman spilled some miserably bushy beans and worked with prosecutors after her arrest, when she decided to cut a plea deal. She freaked out, semi-mightily and melodramatically, on the witness stand and, most of all, it was over her gigantic mess of a life. Pity party? Truthful? Half-truths? Who knows?
Her therapist? Her mofo mama? Her culty dingleberry of a sister, Michelle and her huzzband, another Nxivm boy? And these days poor old Lauren babysits the whole family? How frigging virtuous. A scriptwriter could handle Lauren’s defense better, if this patchjob were all that there is, all that was and all that still will be. Ho hum. No daytime tv Emmys for U.
The family letters of support are sounding like the expected soap suds, with Salzman family and friends chanting out some politically correct bs. It is easy to overlook the attitudes of vested interests, to see around these sorts of bends in the road to so-called justice.
Research. Look as deeply as you decide to go. Addressing criminality is not just a matter of saying “excuse my messes.” So research beneath these palliative words being used to make her sound merely gullible and naive, for twenty or so years, plus the fact that Lauren Salzman built her entire material lifestyle out of an elaborate con game and maintaining a psychological and a sexual prison for herself and for or against others. Who was or is fooling whom?
But-Butt, maybe Frank Parlato did too good of a job redacting. (?)
Lauren spent almost entire her adult life very devoted to Raniere. This was her world. Redact that. Go right ahead. No soggy cookies for Lauren Salzman, huh?
Just doggies as innocent customers who cannot say that much, if mishandled or treated unkindly. Gee whiz. Are the doggies supposed to be therapeutic material for Lauren Salzman? Again I say “oh dear.”
And again, I am glad not to be in the role of Judge Garaufis. Very likely, Lauren Salzman’s situation was and probably still is very impacted by her mother, Nancy Salzman, being a person who wanted glorification, profits, status, etc. and who has conducted herself MONSTROUSLY, from all that can be observed. Like a pimp. A pimp for Keith and a pimp for herself, that Nancy. THAT Nancy. Talk about a user.
Not buying the cleanup jobs, but I do pity Lauren for what she herself has made of her life, at 45. That was one long, abusive haul and the waste of, at least potentially, a.great many blue light specials. Just buy a string of sparkly blue lights and get out of town. Oops, too late for that.
And what we receive is an article that is being published in parts one-through five, so far. Hoo boy !
Maybe make it nine parts, and perhaps we’ll be able to envision a whole new ballgame. This was a BALLING game, Lauren was administering, yes?
She was never qualified, for crying out loud. The pathos is thick. Too thick. Cut it out. Haha.
Leave it to Beaver. I mean, the judge. He decides about these beavers. Then he goes, optimistically, for a beverage, I hope. Perhaps it’ll be a splendid mugful of delicious and revivifying masala chai. Or maybe the whole pot. Hot or iced. As You Like Itt.
Who needs a man? Women know that with a little jelly, dogs can be trained to give oral sex…better than Keith. Plus they are faithful and don’t ask for group blowjobs.
“Unredacted copy falls into Frank’s hands”
Frank, nothing fell into your hands by accident. It was strategically placed there by Lauren’s attorneys so you would advocate for her on your blog.
Her attorneys are appealing to your ego and narcissism to do their work for them. You’re being used and you don’t even see it.
There is nothing used about Frank. Not yet anyhow. From what can and cannot be seen, he is still a very fresh guy.
The real enchilada is coming up in early September: Nancy Salzman. Her actions were indefensible. She will apologize; she will ask for mercy. But, she is at the base of ESP / Nxivm; she got her daughters involved; she countersigned the lawsuits vs. the Nxivm enemies; she knew about Keith’s pedophilia.
Lauren is guilty and deserves prison; Nancy deserves a Bronfman-like sentence.
Hmmm. Lauren was educated.
But even a small child instinctively knows what is fair.
If you have two children playing and one said, “I am a boy and I want all the toys. And you are a girl and girls like to share toys. So I should (as a boy) get all the toys. And you can have 1 toy. But you have to watch me play with it.”
Every girl child I’ve met would say, “Yeah… No. I don’t think so”.
They would know that’s unfair and makes no sense. As. A. Child.
Why didn’t grown women see that?!
I exclude Cami. Her situation was different. And Daniela to an extent. Really, all 3 of the sisters and their cursed family.
But a 24-year-old?!
And in that “toy” scenario – Raniere got all the new shiny toys and his harem had to share one old broken down 40-60 year old troll doll toy. That apparently didn’t work.
And he still wanted more, new, unwrapped, monogrammed toys!
What a deal! Such an equitable relationship.
Who was the government deprogrammer Lauren used to generate so much pity for herself?
@Alanzo you really don’t have respect for people’s healing do you. It was redacted for a reason. You were stupid enough to publish Sarah’s collateral on your blog and now you don’t even know what a psychotherapist is. Enough with your ethnocentricism.
“You were stupid enough to publish Sarah’s collateral on your blog”
Explain, please.
What?
Yes. We need clarity on the blog sharing collateral comment.
Please. Don’t leave us hanging. Thanks.
Your comment implies someone was hired to generate pity, because they don’t couldn’t have had empathy, as one would expect from a psychotherapist. Do you have any proof for your allegation that generating pity was the motivation for her having gone to a therapist?
Lauren Salzman is a cruel and evil woman who deserves more time in prison than Allison. She is clever and used NLP on the judge and the jury. She is a manipulative person who knew she was causing others harm.
Thank god I was psychologically strong enough to escape this evil trio of Keith, Nancy and Lauren.
She may be fooling you, Frank, but she didn’t fool me!
Lauren does not deserve jail. Frank, I hope you continue to propose this.
Exactly! Sometimes what’s right is counter to what the mob thinks it wants.
[…] Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
[…] Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
Lauren also could have quit with the other 9 head people and could have made it the nxivm 10…But no…Lauren chose to stay of her own free will. Lauren was very aware and complicit with the pain she was causing others.
I agree she and the other could have got out
Exactly…she loved everything NXIVM
Carly b, you could have chosen to be not born and spared everyone the pain of having to deal with your heartlessness. Since you didn’t, you were very aware and complicit with the pain you have caused others.
Lauren still should have known right from wrong. Goring and Himmler can’t just say: “Hitler was trying to good and I was just trying to follow plans”. When you’re in the top 5 of power to evil, you can’t plead naivety. She was an active and complicit accomplice in the destruction of others. Lauren hurt people and she knew it was wrong. Listen to all the tapes…Lauren manipulated and hurt people. Keith didn’t force her. Lauren went to college and was a grown adult…not a child. She was smart and clever. Her defense team with all their money wrote a good dossier to protect a fraud. Lauren forced a woman to be a prisoner for two years. Lauren should at the very least get the same. And actually, Lauren did all the bad work. Keith didn’t do much of it. Keith gets 120…and Lauren, who was the branding mental health “hit woman,” should get zero?
Let’s take out all the emotional editorializing here. I believe the testimony was that the door was unlocked and that Lauren “forced” her to stay by telling her that she couldn’t leave until Keith said so, telling her that she will be ostracized if she leaves, making her feel bad, guilty, etc. This, according to you, is “force.”
This sounds like what Keith did to Lauren, Alison, and others. Using emotional manipulation and fear to drive compliance.
You say that “Keith didn’t ‘force’ her” but also that “Lauren ‘forced’ a woman.” These things cannot both be true. If Dani was forced, Lauren was forced. Unless I’m wrong about the unlocked door.
They kept Dani’s legal papers from her. This kept a vulnerable person from leaving/moving herself freely.
That is some false imprisonment/coyote/servitude messed up illegality.
Not wrong. Spot on – as usual.
[…] Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
[…] Part 1 Unredacted Lauren Salzman Sentencing Memorandum Falls into My Hands [Part 1] […]
Probation? Lauren was a boss and held someone as a slave for two years as a prisoner. Lauren hurt people. Lauren manipulated people. Lauren branded people. Lauren and her sister Michelle were willing participants and purveyors and instruments of destruction to others. Lauren is a criminal and a horrible human being. Why would you protect such a horrid person?
Read her sentencing memo – and then judge. I do not think she was ill intended. I think she meant to do good. But you are entitled to your opinion. I knew Lauren in 2007 and perhaps I am biased, but I really think she believed in Raniere and wanted to help him change the world for the better. It may be idiotic but it was not evil.
As for helping to keep Daniela in the room — something that Keith and Daniela’s father and mother eagerly supported – I think Lauren felt she was just following Keith and Daniela’s father’s plans. On top of that, I think Lauren honestly felt that Daniela was in the wrong and that she would get out of her room in a matter of days — then it became some kind of a crazed test of stubbornness between Daniela and her mother, father, and Keith.
Daniela did not tell the real reason Keith had her in the room – and neither did Keith. I wonder if it would have made a differene?
Frank, how would you feel about her if she was a man? Ugly? Overweight? Black or minority? Not educated? Arrogant or unlikeable in some way?
Would you feel the same? Is your dick getting in the way of making a decision?
My common sense says: Everyone is accountable for their crimes regardless of their intent. Yes, she has paid a price for her crimes; Yes, she is making an attempt to turn her life around. However, she is a public figure, a symbol.
She was not a small fish. She was a leader of an organization that defrauded and abused people. She needs to go to prison.
This argument is foolish. So because Lauren thought and believed she was doing good and saving the world, she is a victim?
You are missing the point, Frank. Lauren is a perpetrator of Keith’s toxic plan. It is the suffering and damage she caused to other humans that need to be addressed. Her direct actions affected these women for life. Yes, she damaged herself but she also imposed her warped thinking on others and now it’s time to pay the price.
Also, let’s not forget the mercenary side to Lauren and Nancy. They loved the cash! I wonder when that is hidden?
Without Bronfman money, there would be no NXIVM and without Nancy and Lauren, there would be no NXIVM.
Your argument for Lauren’s release to Probation sounds like the child stealing the candy bar saying “I didn’t mean it.”
Lauren is an adult that caused damage to other humans plain and simple. Commit the crime, do the time!
Let’s cut to the chase.
What crimes do you believe she committed? Tell us the crime, and let’s talk about the time. “Imposing warped thinking” is not a crime.
Abelard,
—Imposing warped thinking is not a crime
You are right! However, breaking the law is against the law, by definition.
What if all of them were not ill-intended?
What if they simply chose beliefs and values that were different from the mainstream?
It well may be true that all of them were not ill intended. It requires further investigation.
“Requires further investigation”
It has been years since these events unfolded. How long does it take to make a decision on guilt? Two years? Five? Twenty?
Justice delayed is justice denied.
They broke the law.
That’s why they were charged.
I could decide that living your life as a hooker is a fate worse than death and kill you.
Now you’re dead.
Who cares what my intention was?
I SAVED you! From a horrible life.
Does that matter in a court of law?
Yes. Intent always matters at sentencing. I just wrote a post on this topic.
If this is true for a hooker, it is even more true for a pimp who forces and exploits women into prostitution.
You are for once right on the money. No one is ever ill intended. Everyone including terrorists, sociopaths, and psychopaths is well intended in their own way. How does that change the impact of those intentions on others?
Alanzo-
Kidding aside, has anyone ever accused you of being obstinate or a contrarian?
Frank, Frank, Frank,
You have this thing for the poor little girl criminals of NXIVM.
Somehow they shouldn’t be held accountable for their choices and their behavior. WHAT THE HECK.
The question is – how were they/she making the world a better place by any of their behavior?
None of them stopped long enough to ask themselves anytime Raniere asked them to break the law, do some stupid thing so he would get more sexual gratification or the way he controlled women.
No one stopped him with his silly little lawsuits or took hundreds of millions of dollars of the Bronfman trust funds did they?
When you tried, where did it get you, Frank? They came after you with what? A thank you note?
When people tried to warn people what was really going on that was illegal, immoral or again “Changing The World” in a good way – what the heck happened to them?
Lauren Salzman was on the front lines defaming them to the community. She was seeking any real information on what was going on like NXIVM taught people
She was an adult with a college education.
She was given a powerful position within NXIVM because she was Nancy daughter and sleeping with Raniere
She was one of the top money earners in NXIVM but was super lazy
Most people know right from wrong before they are 18
Had one of my high school or college boyfriends said let’s go rob a bank, do you think she’d just go do it?
Had she left NXIVM at any time she would not have been alone like her lawyers are trying to paint a picture.
She had her father and stepmother and her mom’s parents who would have helped her out.
Yes, she would have been shunned by NXIVM but so what, who would have wanted that bunch of criminals anyway? She would at least be in a better situation than she is in today.
Lauren in her position did a great deal of damage and broke the law. More so than Allison Mack
look at her attorneys logo
https://kwlaw.co/
What? It’s a symbol of the elements, no?
Or is it REALLY Keith Raniere’s initials?
Maybe Ally Wack’s too…weird world
Quite similar to the brand…..you can’t make this stuff up….