Kathy Russell is due to be sentenced on October 6, at 11 A.M. She has filed her sentencing memorandum. Kathy was arrested by the FBI on July 24, 2018. On April 19, 2019, Kathy pled guilty to one count of visa fraud.
Kathy admitted to knowingly and intentionally presenting an employment letter to the United States Consulate in Mexico, in connection with a TN visa application for Loreta Garza Davila, that contained materially false statements regarding Garza Davila’s job description and salary.
The United States Sentencing Guidelines recommend a sentence of 6 to 12 months. Russell is asking the judge for probation.
Here is an abbreviated version of the Sentencing Memorandum that was filed by Russell’s attorney, Justine Harris.
Kathy Russell is before Your Honor because of serious mistakes that she made…
She falsified immigration documents to help an individual [Loreta Garza] come to the United States for the purpose of working for NXIVM….
Garza is not a “victim” of the offense; indeed, Kathy filed the paperwork at her request. …
She also engaged in other illegal conduct.
in 2004, she drove a non-citizen [19-year-old Mexican, Daniela, who had been in a sexual relationship with Raniere beginning in late 2003] using false documents across the US-Canadian border…. Kathy was not part of the planning. Ms. Keeffe, together with Nancy, Raniere, Lauren and others, discussed the scheme and arranged for the identification to be produced. Kathy came into the picture only because Ms. Keeffe asked her to drive, and, when they got to the border, directed Kathy, much to her surprise, to proceed on her own with the identification and retrieve [Daniela].
Both the government and the Probation Department suggest that after [Daniela] was back in the United States, Kathy later “reminded” [Daniela] of “her assistance in transporting her across the United States border when Russell asked Dani to engage in sexual activity with Raniere and Russell.”
But at trial, [Daniela] testified that “Keith” asked her to join him and Kathy in a sexual encounter, and that Kathy never made an “explicit connection” between the border crossing and a three-way sexual encounter…
In approximately 2005, [Kathy] played a role to help [Daniela] access [James Loperfido’s] computer… and [Daniela] install[ed] a keylogger device.
The extent of Kathy’s remorse for her participation in these crimes, and indeed her entire 17-year affiliation with Raniere and NXIVM, cannot be overstated. She is profoundly sorry. She hopes that she can make amends to her family – in particular, to her son who she abandoned at age 12 – and to the many people who were hurt by the organization that she helped support.
Russell Denounces Vanguard
While denouncing [Keith] Raniere and NXIVM without hesitation, Kathy blames no one else for her mistakes and takes full responsibility for her criminal conduct….
This Court should consider that, like so many who fell prey to Raniere’s influence, Kathy’s loyalty to NXIVM was secured and maintained through a systemic pattern of manipulation, coercion, and punishment. She was worked to the bone, barely paid living wages, starved and psychologically abused. Simply put, for most of her time with NXIVM, Kathy was at the receiving end of a brutal diminishment of her personhood and deliberately kept ignorant as to many of NXIVM’s darkest secrets, including, most significantly, DOS…
Kathy was unusually susceptible to his tactics. Also, unlike some of her co-defendants, she had neither money nor fame, and simply lacked the economic means to escape.
Kathy Has Changed
Probation is warranted because, since her arrest, Kathy has made a psychological transformation. She has come to understand that what kept her captive was a lie and now knows that the man she spent years blindly worshipping is, in fact, “likely a psychopath.”…
In the [three] years she has spent on pretrial release, Kathy has worked hard to escape NXIVM’s influence, to examine the psychological vulnerabilities that made her susceptible to Raniere’s coercive tactics, and to rebuild a healthy and sound future for herself and her son…
Kathy moved to Georgia, away from everything and everyone she had known in Albany. She replaced her NXIVM family with her actual family, rebuilding her relationship with her adult son, Silas, and her sister, Kelly.
Despite poor odds, she found a job and created a consulting company with her son so that they could support themselves financially with the hope of buying a house together in North Carolina where Silas can finish his education….
Given Kathy’s genuine progress and positive trajectory, any time in prison would be devastating. Not only would it cause lasting and irreversible psychological harm on a 62-year- old woman who has worked so hard to understand and overcome the root causes of her trauma and poor decision-making, but it would also disrupt the life of her son, whose future is now inextricably intertwined with hers. He says that the incarceration of his mother would be psychologically “devastating” and “would make it impossible for [him] to continue [his] education in the way that [he] hope[s].”…
Kathy’s Upbringing
…. Born on November 22, 1957, in Jacksonville Florida, Kathy Russell is the oldest daughter of Gerden Russell, Jr. and Joan Wise. …. Kathy and her two younger sisters, Kelly and Patricia, were raised in a modest middle-class household…..
Both parents suffered from psychological disorders, and they mistreated each other and their children….
After her parents divorced when she was 14, Kathy moved in with her father, who she considered the lesser of two evils at the time. But when she was 16, she and her father were in a near-deadly car accident… While Kathy suffered a minor head injury… the accident left her father unconscious for nearly two weeks. He had traumatic brain injury and had to re-learn how to speak and walk. Kathy was his nurse and caretaker….
After graduating from high school in 1975, Kathy moved out of her father’s house….The next year Kathy enrolled in Florida State College but left after just two semesters….
Kathy … landed a job at the front desk at an animal hospital. She soon discovered that the hospital’s accountant was stealing money. When she told her boss, he gave her the position. This was Kathy’s first experience managing a company’s books; she learned the basics of accounting on the job…..
Kathy’s Cycle of Abusive Relationships
In Florida, Kathy began her first significant relationship with … Robert O’Sullivan. (“Bob”) in 1980. Bob was an alcoholic and, over time, became physically and emotionally abusive towards Kathy. She wanted to leave him but feared being alone and unable to support herself.
And in 1981, Kathy moved to Anchorage, Alaska with Bob… On their cross-country drive to Anchorage, Bob threatened Kathy with a knife and knocked her to the ground during a violent outburst. The physical abuse and erratic outbursts continued after they arrived in Alaska, and within two years of moving, Kathy finally ended their relationship.
By the mid-1980s, Kathy started working as an accountant at M-W Drilling, Inc., where she met Randolph Bryant… When she became pregnant, they planned to marry… One week before the wedding, Randy … became physically abusive, knocking Kathy to the ground.
While Kathy briefly considered leaving Randy, she feared being alone and unable to support herself, and naively believed that the abuse had been an aberration…. Randy continued to emotionally, verbally, and physically abuse Kathy throughout their marriage…
In 1990, Kathy gave birth to their son, Silas. When Silas was four, Kathy finally sought a divorce from Randy… While the court gave Kathy and Randy joint custody, Silas primarily lived with Kathy until he was 12 years old.
Kathy’s Introduction to NXIVM
Kathy learned about NXIVM from her hairdresser. It was 2001, and at the time, Kathy was struggling both personally and professionally. She was working long hours at a job that she was on the brink of losing, while also juggling the demands of single parenting. She worried that
if she did not seek help soon, she would end up like her mother – depressed and alone.
Telling her that NXIVM could help her become happier and more fulfilled, Kathy’s hairdresser enrolled her in a 16-day “intensive” in Anchorage, Alaska. Kathy … believed that the course’s teachings empowered her to look at life through a different and more thoughtful lens… Kathy signed up for another intensive, and later that summer, in August 2001, flew to Albany for her second course.
… Kathy was also decidedly fixated on Raniere, who she believed was brilliant and who paid her particular attention.
In early 2002, Kathy participated in additional trainings in Albany, many led by Nancy Salzman. During this time, Kathy also began developing an intimate relationship with Raniere.
At the time, she believed that he had the unique ability to put her emotions on an “overhead projector” and truly see everything inside of her…. By March 2002, Raniere had initiated a sexual relationship with Kathy.
A few months later, Nancy Salzman asked Kathy to move to Albany and work full time as a bookkeeper for NXIVM.
There were plenty of reasons to turn down the job. For one, Silas refused to move to Albany, opting to stay with his father in Alaska. Thus, moving to Albany would mean leaving her son in Randy’s custody. Not only that, but her compensation would fall off a cliff. At her job in Alaska, Kathy made $40/hour, earned a 401(k), and enjoyed other benefits including 6- weeks’ vacation. NXIVM offered her just $15/hour to be an independent contractor, with no benefits whatsoever.
Nevertheless, Kathy … was … focused on getting closer to Raniere and was desperate to belong to a community that she perceived to be welcoming and thoughtful and, on its face, was dedicated to self- improvement and improving the world. In July 2002, Kathy accepted the job.
Kathy Falls Under Raniere’s Spell
When Kathy first moved to Albany, she was completely enthralled with Raniere. At the start of their sexual relationship, Raniere asked Kathy for a five-year commitment “just to him.”…
Raniere explained the commitment in such a “clear, logical way” that Kathy ultimately agreed. Kathy believed that Raniere was uniquely able to fill the emotional void she felt inside and boosted her self-esteem… at the time the care and attention was intoxicating…
When Kathy moved to Albany, Raniere demanded from her damaging “collateral” to prove her commitment and severe weight loss…. Raniere taped Kathy making incriminating statements about an incident in Alaska – and held it over her head for years to come. As to her weight, Kathy weighed just a little over 100 pounds when she arrived in Albany.
Raniere told Kathy she should get down to her high school weight of 85 pounds. Kathy struggled to lose over 10 pounds to meet Raniere’s
demands.
Around 2004, about two years into their relationship, Raniere asked Kathy to make a lifelong commitment to him – a promise that she would never be with another intimate partner. Kathy agreed. But Raniere controlled every aspect of their relationship, and generally left Kathy wanting more. Raniere determined “when they saw each other, when they had sexual relations and how, and who was allowed to know or participate.” Nevertheless, Kathy cherished what she thought was Raniere’s ability to give her deeper and unique insights into herself….
In 2005, just a year after demanding a lifelong vow, Raniere began to phase out his sexual relationship with Kathy. He stopped it altogether in 2008, but still demanded that Kathy honor her commitment to him. As a result, Kathy found herself “begging [] to speak” and “spend time” with Raniere, but he generally refused to engage with her directly.
For more than a decade, Raniere kept Kathy at arm’s length, and communicated with her only when he needed something, refusing to respond to her texts and emails.
By 2009, Kathy emailed Raniere in despair, explaining that their “moments of connecting” were “so infrequent” that they felt “almost non-existent.” …. He suggested that if she just worked harder, if she just did better, if she just “healed” her “ethical breaches,” maybe he would come back to her. … after 2008, he rarely interacted with her directly.
Kathy’s Work at NXIVM
… She was distraught by Raniere’s rejection. On top of that, her work was incredibly difficult. In her off- and on-again role as NXIVM’s bookkeeper, Kathy engaged in a variety of tasks almost always at the direction of others – Raniere, Clare Bronfman or Nancy Salzman…
Those outside the organization could see that Kathy lacked the resources and authority to get work done…. Indeed, any sort of order Kathy tried to impose in the accounting department was repeatedly rejected as not the “NXIVM” way….
Clare berated and demeaned Kathy regularly. On one occasion, Kathy asked Clare if she could work from home during an especially busy period in 2015, to which Clare responded: “You are asking me to make your life easier yet, you refuse to consider anyone else – I feel like doing this supports your suffering and entitlement.”…
Kathy’s financial situation was precarious. Not only did she lack the financial resources to leave NXIVM, but she could not make ends meet on a day-to-day basis. As reflected in emails Kathy sent to Nancy, Raniere, and Clare, she was often unable to make rent, pay for her car, pay her credit card, or even see a doctor.
In 2010, Kathy emailed Raniere, explaining that she was “out of money,” “living hand to mouth,” and that she “didn’t live this way before [she] came and [she didn’t] want this to continue.”
Five years later, nothing had changed. In 2015, Kathy wrote to Nancy Salzman in distress: I need to make a decent living, have health insurance, a decent car and to be able to put money away for when I get older. When I came here I had a fair amount of money… making $15/hr. coming from $39/hr was difficult…and eventually all the money was gone. I am flat broke, my car is about to die… and I really don’t have anything.
But the response from Raniere and Nancy was uniform: Kathy needed to get through her own “limitations” and account for her many “ethical breaches” before she could make a fair wage.
Not only was Kathy working incredibly long hours for subpar wages and zero benefits, but she often was not even paid the little she had been promised. Clare Bronfman routinely docked Kathy’s pay for hours that she had worked, for no discernable reason.
Clare to Kathy: “I am concerned your need for money right now is not helping you to look at this with the company’s best interest and what is integrist [sic]”;
Kathy to Raniere: “Clare wants to discount my billing by 15 hours. I find this unreasonable. This is not the first time she has deducted hours.”
Kathy is Subjected to NXIVM’s Cycle of Control and Punishment
In truth, once Raniere decided that he no longer desired Kathy sexually, she was always in the doghouse, whether in the context of her bookkeeping work or otherwise. She was told, for example, that she was too “fearful” or that she played the “victim,” and that these shortcomings were “ethical breaches” she needed to heal and be punished for.
Kathy was required to write “breach plans,” exploring the reasons for her behavior and creating a plan to address her supposed deficiencies, including by committing to certain “penances” or self-inflicted punishments.
Just one example of this occurred in 2016, when Kathy sent Nancy “a plan to address the destruction [she] created due to [her] inability to complete projects.”
Kathy’s plan included proposed penances if she failed to meet the project goals, including losing pay, running errands for her peers, planking daily, and reducing her calories by 200 each day for a week.
Nancy responded that Kathy didn’t “understand [her] issues”; she claimed that Kathy had caused irreparable damage, told her she needed to “feel the pain of what [she’d] done,” and directed that Kathy should be “happy to do whatever it takes.”
Kathy was required to spend hundreds of hours on punishments, including, for example, writing letters to multiple insiders of NXIVM explaining a purported business failure.
The punishment and controls extended to every aspect of Kathy’s life. NXIVM dictated how much she could weigh, what types of foods she could eat, who she could communicate with, and even how often she could dance.
At one point, Clare chastised Kathy for owning a cat, telling her that she did not make enough money to have a pet and that she would need Raniere’s permission to keep her beloved animal.
As her current therapist explains, Kathy endured these “frequent harsh punishments . . . in part due to her belief that these might make her a better person and because she thought at the time that they were deserved.” Kathy now understands that her feelings were merely a product of NXIVM’s intentional distortion of reality, which thrived on her “low sense of self-worth and vulnerability.”
The NXIVM leadership used Kathy’s supposed “limitations” not only to punish her psychologically, but also to strip her of her responsibilities. In fact, Kathy was fired or demoted on several occasions, including in 2006, 2014, and 2015.
In 2010, Lauren Salzman threatened: “If you don’t evolve certain limiting patterns, it will eventually result in you being replaced with someone more efficient who does not have obstruction issues.”
After Clare fired Kathy in 2015, she emailed Kathy: “My greatest hope is you can evolve some of the problems in working with others so you can create a viable cash flow for yourself . . .”
Kathy was made to believe that she had personal “issues” that needed to be resolved before she could continue working for NXIVM. Sadly, she internalized the denigration, and came to believe that she was inadequate and unworthy.
Kathy to Nancy: “I realize that you have been quite kind in helping me see that my inability to work with others and narcissistic tendencies are what removed me from my job.”);
Kathy to Raniere: “I realize I have caused this and created much of this problem by my need to control, blame, complain and my indulgence in fear”);
Kathy to Raniere: “[W]hile I’m working to evolve my anger and control… I seem to be unable to find what would be the thing to help me get
past this and evolve this.”
At its core, of course, these strategies were deliberately coercive, manipulating Kathy’s mindset to believing that the problems were entirely her fault.
Kathy to Nancy: “It seems I’m really out to lunch… and I’m the one who is wrong here. Everyone else sees this but me. I really want to go…”…
What little role Kathy had in NXIVM’s programming was also stripped away from her as punishment.
Around 2014, after several years of threats, Kathy’s status as a low-tier proctor in NXIVM’s programming was placed on “inactive” status, because of her “fear” issues.
Kathy to Raniere: “While I strive to correct my breach, my immature emotionality, my lack of communication, and correct my controlling behaviors…I’m not getting through it. I have a consequence of not getting through my issues and have been placed as inactive Proctor.”
After that, Kathy never again held the position of proctor or coach. Desperate for approval, Kathy worked endlessly to get into the good graces of NXIVM’s leadership. But Kathy’s hard work and acknowledgment of her purported issues were never enough.
Kathy to Nancy: “In some ways over the last year, I have worked harder than I have before to change things in myself. In reality it wasn’t enough to make the difference.”.
Kathy now realizes that her efforts never stood a chance – her supposed “breaches,” the punishments she endured, the rock bottom pay, the demotions, and the firings were all merely a means of controlling Kathy through calculated psychological manipulation.
Kathy’s Attempts to Leave NXIVM
While very much under the organization’s coercive yoke, in moments of lucidity, Kathy did try to leave NXIVM. Nearly every year, starting in 2009, Kathy expressed a desire to leave.
In 2009, Kathy wrote to Raniere: “Each month for the last five months, I’ve written and rewritten emails about wanting to leave.”
Over a year later, in 2010, Kathy wrote again to Raniere: “I really don’t want to work under these conditions, and my initial impulse is to
resign.”
The next year, in 2011, Kathy told Raniere once again that she thought it was best to “resign” and this time she asked for his “help.”
Two years went by, and no help was provided.
In 2013, Kathy told Raniere that she was going to “look for another job” where she could “have insurance and make more money,” but admitted that she was “having difficulty finding a way out.”
A year went by, and nothing changed.
In 2014, Kathy reached out, this time, to Nancy Salzman and told her it was “time to ask Keith’s permission to . . . resign with the company,” explaining that her situation was “unfair” and that she was “not willing to do this anymore,”
Another year passed, and Kathy found herself no closer to getting out.
In 2015, Kathy emailed Nancy again: “I don’t want to go through another year of this.”
By 2016, Kathy was still expressing the same sentiment. She wrote to Nancy: “I really want to go.”
In short, Kathy wanted to leave, she just didn’t know how – psychologically or financially. Desperate and trapped, she even contemplated suicide….
But the notion that all of her actions had to benefit Raniere was so ingrained, that she did not act on those feelings because she could not think of a way to “kill herself that would not lead back to Keith Raniere.” In the end, at these darkest moments “even [Kathy’s] suicidal ideation and emotional distress was not more important than protecting Mr. Raniere.”
Unlike many others involved in this case, who had wealth and/or powerful family connections, Kathy’s family was at a loss of what to do. They were deeply worried and afraid for her….
Given these circumstances, that Kathy did not leave Raniere and NXIVM on her own is not surprising. She lacked the psychological or financial resources to craft a viable exit strategy; nor did she have sophisticated family members to intervene and assist her. While her arrest has brought unbelievable pain and anxiety, she is now profoundly grateful that it finally allowed her to break free of Raniere’s devastating grip on her life.
The criminal case was, perhaps, the only thing strong enough to save her.
Kathy’s Efforts to Rehabilitate and Start a New Life
In the months after her arrest, Kathy was shell-shocked…. Initially, she continued to believe in NXIVM, holding tight to its teachings and remaining loyal to Rainere…. With separation from the community, and free from the constant manipulation, control, and coercion that had been exerted on her for more than 15 years, Kathy began to see and understand the truth. Through her review of the discovery, and in conversations with those close to her, as well as with counsel, she “became aware of numerous deceptions she had experienced by Raniere and others working with him at NXIVM.”…
Kathy understood that everything she had worked towards, everything she had sacrificed, everything she believed in, was all part of an ugly and destructive lie…. In the months and years after her arrest, she embarked upon a path of deep introspection and self-discovery, in which she began grappling in earnest with the profound errors she had made, the consequences of her blind devotion to Raniere and NXIVM, and the fact that the organization had done irreparable damage to so many people.
Physical Separation from NXIVM
When Kathy came to understand the true, nefarious nature of NXIVM and its community, she knew she needed to get far, far away. While Kathy had few people outside of NXIVM to whom she could turn, her sister Kelly Russell did reach out. After 16 years of very little contact, Kathy and Kelly “started talking regularly on the phone, texting, and visiting.”
Understanding that Kathy had no money or means to support herself, Kelly offered Kathy her home in Georgia. Seizing on this much-needed ticket out of Albany, Kathy moved to Georgia in June 2019, and began to rebuild her life.
Therapy and Self-Reflection
In Georgia, Kathy…. has been working with a therapist to better understand the issues that led her to her current circumstances.
She has developed an understanding of how [Raniere’s] teachings were used to manipulate her and others, and how they have led to lasting devastating effects on some of the people involved. She developed an understanding that Mr. Raniere was after satisfying his own sexual desires and need for power and control and used her and others, including underage girls, to do so….
She often reflects on how she made rationalizations for Keith, believing the lie he wove into the program that his actions were the pinnacle of good or ethical. I see her say how stupid she was for not being able to question the negative aspects of
NXIVM. She wishes she had seen how nefarious Keith was and that she had
never allowed herself to be so easily controlled.
Reconnecting with Family
Kathy has not only worked on rebuilding her sense of self since her arrest, but she has also focused on rebuilding her relationship with Kelly and Silas. Reconnecting with her family has been the most meaningful and gratifying experience of Kathy’s life. While this prosecution
has been incredibly painful, she recognizes that it gave her her family (and her life) back. For this, Kathy is grateful.
Work
Kathy left NXIVM without any money to her name. For months she struggled to get back on her feet, doing occasional consulting and bookkeeping work for friends just to get by. In July 2020, Kathy obtained freelance consulting work through a friend, and decided to continue this work under a company for herself and her son, Silas….
Through the company they created, Kathy and Silas perform consulting work, principally in the areas of accounting and IT. While at the present, the bulk of their work comes from one company, Silas works alongside Kathy conducting the quality control software testing and handling some of the administrative tasks involved in running a business, including paying the bills, and running payroll.
The Road Ahead
With the Court’s permission, Kathy and Silas hope to move to North Carolina and build on their new life together. Kathy is working hard to gather enough resources so that she and Silas can be independent and live in their own home in a new community….
Probation Is Sufficient
Kathy’s crimes were not insignificant. Lying on a visa application is serious, and her 17-year affiliation with NXIVM supported Raniere and tacitly implicated her in the crimes being committed by others. She is deeply ashamed of her own misconduct….
But given the mitigating facts about her personal history, her modest circumstances, and her lesser role within NXIVM, the sentence the Court imposes should take into account Kathy’s deep remorse and the enormous personal progress she has made since her arrest….
Her separation from NXIVM, her dedication to counseling and self-reflection, her recommitment to her family, and her efforts to become financially self-sufficient, all demonstrate that she is committed to rehabilitation. A sentence of probation would allow her to continue rebuilding a healthy and economically stable life.
Notorious KRC,
Is “likely psychopath” legalese?
Is that to cya for libel/slander and because you cannot make a diagnosis as a lay person?
Thank you!
PS
F×ck Alanzo. He’s such an annoying sand flea on FR. Why must he stalk you?! Ugh.
There’s no question Kathy was involved in some icky stuff like coercing threesomes. She also paid for Cami’s apartment. To be clear, I’m not sure there’s evidence that she knew who was living there, and even if she did, I’m not sure there’s evidence she knew Raniere was in a sexual relationship with Cami while Cami was underage.
Kathy’s history is terrible and the way she was manipulated to accept NXIVM’s abuses as her own fault is tragic. It appears her criminal acts were because she didn’t know how to escape a community she regarded as her sole means of survival.
Sorry, I’ve been following this case the same as everyone else here but I’m not going to shame her. I think probation is appropriate.
Excellent article!
I’m not going to point out all the glossed over stuff like Kathy coercing Danielle into a 3-way with Raniere or the fact Kathy plays the eternal victim card — way to take personal responsibility, Kathy!
Best of luck to you! You are a good person.
My life was harder than yours! Does being a victim excuse the fact you aided a child molester?
**********
You rented an apartment for Cami, a 15-year-old girl, so she could live alone? LOL
You knew about Raniere visiting Cami! You knew he was going to the apartment for sex.
You aided and abetted in the molestation and rape of Camila.
—————————-
People feel bad for you. Allison Mack, Nancy Salzman, and Clare Bronfman never assisted Raniere in molesting a minor. You did! You are only second to Raniere in being total scum!
Cami is the victim, not you. Fuck off, cunt!
——————————
Why are there no records of Daniela leaving and entering the country? Did the border patrol make a mistake?
–Did the border patrol make a mistake?
Yes, the guards messed up; Kathy and Danielle, if my memory serves me correct, sweet-talked the security border guards, which is somewhat impressive. Danielle is attractive and garners attention, Kathy looks like she was birthed at Chernobyl and garners sympathy. It was a team effort.
Kathy Russell smuggled Danielle into the country, so Raniere could copulate with Danielle. Danielle testified, under oath — at trial, that Kathy coerced into having sex with Kieth Raniere.
“Kathy is the real victim. Kathy had no idea what was going on”, says every sucker.
My heart goes out to Kathy who loved Raniere and Executive Success Programs and was forced to change her tune and call Raniere a monster and cry and blame him for her decisions in order to avoid jail time. I don’t blame her for yielding to the FBI and saying whatever she had to to save her a$$. We’ve all seen this is the formula that works for these women. The more you blame and renounce, the less jail time you get. Bravo Kathy for doing what you had to do.
Tiny dancer,
Are you saying Kathy is lying?
Kathy’s emails going back many years show that Kathy did not “love ESP” as you claim. Rather, that Kathy was very, very unhappy. She wanted to leave.
Your claims of Kathy lying to get out of doing jail time do not take that contrary data into account.
On balance, Kathy seems to be best source for information on how Kathy really feels/felt. And she seems to despise Nancy, Clare and Keith.
She got two years probation, no jail time. The Nxivm bookkeeper who was delivering paper bags full of cash containing a full years rent for the Raniere harem townhouse.
Yeah. “Mistakes”. Nothing crooked about that. Bagman for a criminal enterprise. Not a day in prison.
Here’s one for the hapless, ballin’ ballerina who copped her own sideshow in this 7 hellring Circus Act. Wanted to use it in a nod to Mr. Booth on Suneel’s thread but Frank’s breaking news on Russel here suits. …You remember this don’t you, Kathy? 1974, when Roger Moore was (the best) Bond and Shirley Bassey was too dark to play the sex toy chick but SANG it. Good luck with your memoirs and why DIDN’T you stash any of that cash from Keith’s cum scum hot tub scrubbing job?!
https://youtu.be/EnseiOJ2jGQ
It’s confusing.
And contradictory. In many places. But I will start with one. How was Kathy both struggling financially and able to spend enormous amounts of money on the Nxium workshops? And take 16 days off work? Multiple times? And leave her son for weeks? As a “struggling single mom”? And then her son goes to live with his dad… So. Not really a “single mom”.
Later, Kathy repeatedly says that she was making good money and benefits before Nxium.
So, again. “Struggling” to support herself and child does not make sense as a motivation to join Nxium? And to leave the kid who was of the concern to “support”?
I just cannot get past Kathy bailing on her kid to move to Albany. Not seeing or talking to her family for years.
This tale of woe does not entirely ring true to me….
I do feel for Kathy. But I do not see her as a victim. I see Kathy’s son as a victim.
And then for Kathy to utilize that same (now adult) son that she abandoned so freely when he was very young and really needed her, as the reason, that Kathy should not be incarcerated… Is ironic.
To say the very least.
I haven’t bought any of these convicted criminal loser stories. Even those who “escaped”.
Yeah, some of them may not have known of the criminal activities of Raniere, et al, but they wallowed in the clique privilege for years, some for more than a decade, having their relationships in this cult affect every other decision they made in their lives, whether for or against other people or things.
Now all of a sudden they don’t want anything to do with it. Wash their hands clean of it. Come back with an image as someone who was fooled and deceived by the evil monster, who is fully to blame. Was he a monster while you were engaging in a threesome with a teenager Kathy?
No. You people just don’t want anything to do with all the negative ramifications to your reputation and freedom that now surrounds the stupid cult choices you made.
Russell should never have been indicted in the first place.
If she had had competent legal representation she would have been able to cut an immunity deal with the prosecutors.
Kathy Russell is the only NXIVM defendant I feel sorry for.
So sad. Obviously, she is getting probation. Other than Sausage, is there a human being on earth (who actually read this lengthy biography) that thinks Kathy should go to prison?
Law&Crime
NXIVM Bookkeeper Says Sex Cult Leaders Made Her an ‘Indentured Servant,’ Controlled Her Calorie Count, Told Her to Get Rid of Her Cat
Colin Kalmbacher, Oct 5th, 2021, 8:31 pm
[ … ]
The filing names Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman and NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman as chief enforcers of the cult’s discipline.
“The punishment and controls extended to every aspect of Kathy’s life,” the filing continues while offering several disturbing details. “NXIVM dictated how much she could weigh, what types of foods she could eat, who she could communicate with, and even how often she could dance. At one point, Clare chastised Kathy for owning a cat, telling her that she did not make enough money to have a pet and that she would need Raniere’s permission to keep her beloved animal.”
For all of her efforts, Russell claims she was increasingly denigrated and made to feel helpless–as well as economically unable to leave.
“Sadly, she internalized the denigration, and came to believe that she was inadequate and unworthy,” the filing argues.
[ … ]
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/nxivm-bookkeeper-says-sex-cult-leaders-made-her-an-indentured-servant-controlled-her-calorie-count-told-her-to-get-rid-of-her-cat/
World’s smallest violin.
Russell’s lawyer deploys the usual hard-luck story to snow the judge and try for leniency for her felon client, who spent 15 years cooking the Nxivm books and delivering bags full of cash for this criminal enterprise.
“ Kathy blames no one else for her mistakes and takes full responsibility for her criminal conduct….
This Court should consider that, like so many who fell prey to Raniere’s influence, Kathy’s loyalty to NXIVM was secured and maintained through a systemic pattern of manipulation…”
Note how paragraph 2 shamelessly contradicts paragraph 1. Russell “blames no one else” while squarely placing the blame on someone else: the “possible psychopath” Raniere.
She takes “full responsibility” while arguing she should receive no penalty whatsoever. Not so much as a week in prison.
She made “mistakes”.
This hard luck story of her life is highly questionable. Remarkable, as told by her lawyer in hopes of obtaining a get out of jail free card, that most everybody in Russell’s life is an asshole except her. Both her parents are “evil”, the father somewhat less evil than the mother. Husband abusive, check. Boyfriend abusive, check. Everyone at her new Nxivm job abusive, check. After a while, this unremitting tale of hard luck begins to seem downright… fictional.
Glimmers of truth do seep through. Russell left a $40/hr job w/benefits to join this cult. So it seems she did have agency after all. She stuck with Nxivm as bagman/crooked bookkeeper for years and years. Oh, she came this close to quitting (or so it is claimed) but somehow never did.
Well, she had no resources (experienced bookkeeper who had made $40/hr).
The tale is pure bullshit.
Russell now is running a “consulting” company telling other companies how to run their accounting. Advice from the felon who was delivering bags full of cash and smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border. The crooked bookkeeper of Nxivm, a financial advisor!
Yeah, that’s the kind of thing the court system should be encouraging. Putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
Russell deserves 8 years in prison.
Only 8, huh? Figured you’d want at least double digits.
Kathy helped to set up Cami in the apartment to be molested. You remember where the photograph was taken, don’t you?
TRUTH SPOKEN!!
Hi, Frank
I noticed you are using face sketches of Daniela. The judge asked the media to not use her face sketches or Camilla ‘a face sketches.
Yesterday, your news site shared an article from Suneel that contained several lies. I showed, using my own specialized knowledge regarding search engines and screenshots, that Suneel was lying.
Frank Report is becoming a place where sex assault victims, even those who have even taken down the perpetrators, are harassed and bullied (You are harassing Daniela and Camila by using their sketches. The judge also asked to NOT use them to respect victims’ privacy ). While the bullies (such as Suneel) are given a platform to harass and promote their propaganda and lies.
I am not participating nor reading your site, Frank Report, anymore. I cannot support a place that actively harasses victims and gives a platform to bullies.
I have specialized knowledge about search engines that Suneel probably thought nobody would have and, hence, he thought he could get away with lying 🤥 to the audience.
Frank Report loses valuable experts because it is favoring lies, bullies and harassment over victims. Why is it favoring this angle? For ad clicks? To have sex with the DOS women?
Not sure and I don’t care.
I see clearly now what Frank Report is and I will not use my time or expertise for this place.
Mexican Lady,
Do NOT want to see you go, but I also really agree with you.
I politely questioned the use of the actual children’s photos in the custody case story on here. My comment was censored.
Suneel being allowed to lie and attempt to destroy a man’s reputation on a whim IS really disturbing.
The best recourse for that transgression would be a very large disclaimer above the fraudulent headline and to replace the Booth Pinocchio photo with a Suneel meme.
Thank you again, for exposing Suneel as an agenda driven liar and hypocrite.
Sorry to see you go Mexican lady. I allways enjoyed your contributions.
I understand your sentiments. Giving Suneel this podium is a mistake.
Mexican Lady, I do not agree that the public is not entitled to see sketches to get a general idea of appearance. I also think that until these women stop being victims and see themselves as victors, as warriors, as heroines, they will not heal. That’s my world view. I don’t want to coddle anyone, because coddling only makes people weaker.
It’s high time Camila and Daniela come out like Jessica Joan, India Oxenberg, Sarah Edmondson and others.
BTW I am not under the Brooklyn judge’s dictates about sketches of photos. BTW the original Russell sentencing memo had Daniela’s last name fully revealed. I chose not to quote from it and spared the use of her last name.
Except for Nicki Clyne. You coddle Nicki Clyne – who is one of the least deserving of it for she shows no such mercy toward victims of Keith Raniere.
Nicki’s behavior has been criminal and bizarre. And yet coddle, coddle, coddle.
Nicki also uses the word “coddling” a lot when writing about victims. I’m starting to worry about you, Frank.
ROFLMAO, Pyriel! …Tragic, really. I mean that Frank will have so little credibility and plea deal leverage when he rolls on Stone. Oh, well.
You’re an ass, Frank Parlato. That’s what you are. You have no morals and your behavior mimics those of the dead-enders; always moving the goalpost.
Call it like it is: if it suits you, you abide; if it doesn’t, you don’t and you call it free speech.
Thanks for letting me know you’re leaving. And in such a classy way too.
Frank? With all due respect? I don’t think it’s up to you to decide how these women should heal.
I recognize that you have taken a very difficult position in exposing this story and I have known you to be generally very respectful of others.
I’m proud of your work, enjoy it thoroughly, and deeply appreciate the opportunity to be a commentator here.
But I’ve thought a lot about it and I think Mexican Lady is right.
That you’re not under the exact same jurisdiction as the court is a thing to be celebrated, but it’s also worth keeping in mind why the court made the request for no pictures or drawings.
You are right that everyone knows their names, anyway. Gossip travels far.
But it’s also not up to you to decide whether these women come out in public or not. Every person is unique and will have their own trajectory for healing.
I also appreciate your use of artwork rather than photos. This is something I’ve always enjoyed about Frank Report and the painting of Daniella is especially beautiful.
Which makes it especially hard for me to say I’m just not sure it’s really fair to be posting her likeness.
Hope you’ll at least consider taking down the images. And if it’s possible, please share my appreciation with the artist. It’s a very lovely portrait.
The portrait of Daniela – at my request does not look much like her – it is rather only similar or not unlike her. No one in the world could recognize Daniela from this painting.
I asked the person who did the art to make the painting more of a type than the person. And he did.
Frank –
These people put someone away for life – probably rightly.
Public prosecutions which deny life, liberty, and property require accountability to the public.
You did nothing wrong and you should do more of it – not less of it.
We can’t have anonymous accusers denying property, liberty and life.
Keep it up.
In fact, step it up.
Alanzo
Aww, mexican lady I do not want to see you go either! You are one of my favorite commentors!
I haven’t said anything sooner because I’m a little conflicted about this matter. Even though the girls were both victims, they too, were also perpetrators. Dani participated in hacking and cami partipated in sex trafficking.
Sylvie at least did nothing wrong that I’m aware of. She for sure deserves her total anonymity.
I honestly believe all of DOS should have been charged for their participation in a human trafficking scheme. It was way too obvious. They collected blackmail on women they actually called slaves, deprived each other of food and sleep, and ordered things like punishments, readiness drills and acts of care. These things demonstrate a total lack of respect for the humanity and integrity of a person and identify all who participated as dangerous people.
I guess where I can sort of agree with you though, is that Dani did stand and did testify about private and intimate details of her life. Also? She was not a part of DOS.
Cami did not testify and was member of DOS, but pictures of her as a 15 year old girl were used in the trial. Child sex abuse victims always receive protection and anonymity when they are children. So, I think the grounds for requesting privacy are pretty good here, too.
Ya, after sleeping on it and thinking about it a little more, I agree with you, mexican lady. Frank should stop with the pictures of these two women.
There are very good reasons for their privacy to be protected.
Mexican Lady-
You will be missed! You are a class act and above-the-fray. I wish you the best. Take care!
Your takedown of Suneel’s lies was the sort of thing that used to be editorialized immediately here on the Frank Report. I don’t understand why that didn’t happen this time. I understand your misgivings about the way things are going here. I do agree with your principled stand; however, your leaving would be one less reason for me to keep reading here. I’m probably not the lone fan of Mexican Lady, Everyone with principles feels this way and goes eventually. I’ve been reading here since the days when practically the only commentator was VanDouche. Stay and keep Frank [and the rest of us] aware.
Wondering if Kathy’s hairdresser who enrolled her is Wendy Wendell Irik from Anchorage, Alaska?
If so, it’s noteworthy that Wendy still supports Nancy Salzman.
What a sad, sad story. What a life. When you read this, the mockery of “hapless Kathy” and the ballerina remarks on FR seems rather cruel in retrospect.
If Lauren can have probation, then she should get it too.
I wholeheartedly agree. I hope this is the outcome this morning.
Agree.
Jeeze. More guff has been written about this bunch of loathsome clowns than the history of the Roman Empire. They are, without exception, a combination of viciousness and banality. That includes the slimy apostates. “Nippy….”
Yet, here you are…