R. Kelly, & Raniere Hoed Similar Rows, Hopes Now Pinned to Appeals

R&B singer Robert Sylvester Kelly, 54, AKA R. Kelly, and NXIVM’s thought-leader, Keith Alan Raniere, 61, have a lot in common.

Kelly has resided at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY since June 2021.  Raniere lived there from April 2018 until January 2021. The two men lamentably never got to cross paths.

Both Raniere and Kelly lived at MDC during their trials.

Sources told me that COs, who provided Raniere with non-prison attire so that he could appear before the jury in something other than a prison jumpsuit, would occasionally express their pleasure at his trial by urinating on his trial clothes.

Raniere was convicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, charges that alleged he and his inner circle used his life coaching company, NXIVM, to further a criminal enterprise.  He was convicted on what some people euphemistically refer to as Vangone Day – June 19, 2019.

Kelly was convicted on September 27, 2020 on racketeering conspiracy charges, alleging he used his music career to further a criminal enterprise.  The jury found Kelly guilty of 12 illegal acts, including sex with underage girls.

Raniere resided at MDC for more than a year before his trial and more than a year after conviction while he awaited sentencing. He was sentenced on Oct. 27, to 120 years, plus five years probation. His present release date is 2120.

Kelly’s sentencing is scheduled for May 4 where he will likely receive a life sentence or, like Raniere, even longer.

Both men are appealing their convictions.  Both men chose the same lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, to represent them on their appeal. Bonjean also represented Bill Cosby, successfully getting the old perv out of prison to wane in obscurity during his final days.

Raniere’s appeal, including a supplemental brief, by a second appellate attorney, is in the process of review at the 2nd Circuit.

Ironically, the BOP chose to move Raniere from MDC just as his appeal was coming due.

Kelly’s appeal has not been filed but is due this Thursday.

Both men contracted COVID 19

Raniere got COVID during the long transfer from MDC to USP Tucson where he currently resides.

USP Tucson is a maximum-security prison operated especially to safely house sex offenders. USP Tucson provides a place where sex offenders are in the majority and, therefore, not as much of a target of other max security prisoners who tend to target sex offenders.

Kelly apparently just got COVID 19 while at MDC.

In fact, Bonjean just asked U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly, for a two-week extension – until Feb. 17, 2022 – to file Kelly’s appeal because Kelly cannot “meaningfully participate in his post-trial defense” because he is not allowed to participate in video visits while he has COVID and the MDC has suspended all jail visits, preventing her from personally meeting him.

Kelly faces up to life in prison for his present conviction and still faces charges in Illinois and Minnesota.

Kelly is known for the hit song “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition (Remix).”  He was a star in the ’90s and early 2000s – and won several Grammy awards.

Vanguard was known for being one of the top three problem solvers in the world in the 90s, based on a study he conducted himself, and also known as the thought and ethics leader of a community called NXIVM from 1998-2018. He did the thinking for a group of people who called him their Vanguard.

Prosecutors said Raniere sexually, and psychologically dominated girls and women, and used a cadre of loyalists to do his bidding and recruit victims.  Raniere’s lawyers called the accusers women who “were voluntarily with him and were consenting adults” and that, in the sole case of the child, Camila, he stayed with her straight into adulthood continuing to bestow his sexual largess upon her and that he never once shared the child porn he took of her.

Prosecutors said R. Kelly physically, sexually, and psychologically dominated children – girls and boys – and women, often recording sex acts with minors, and using a cadre of loyalists to do his bidding and recruit victims.

Kelly’s lawyers called the accusers groupies who “were dying to be with him.”

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Prison Wear and Tear

Raniere’s supporters said that he has remained slender but has grayed quite a bit and aged – and that he now looks almost gaunt.

Gone is the plump nearly cherubic Vanguard that devotees loved to adore.

He continues to wax optimistic to his followers, giving them hope that his appeal will be successful, that justice will prevail, and he will return to his flock in the leadership role as Vanguard any day now, perhaps headquartering in Fiji when he is released with apologies by the feds, or so they believe.

R. Kelly’s lawyer says the singer has gained a lot of weight and has run out of money while in jail. His prospects, unlike his girth, are slender. Should he prevail on appeal, he can be tried in two other jurisdictions.

Raniere also ran out of money and is now paying $260 per month out of his commissary towards his $3.4 million in restitution to his 21 victims.

While he cannot pay restitution, he has had money magically appear to pay attorneys.  In addition to the appeal, sources say that one or more Rule 33 motions, where new evidence is cited to support a request for a new trial, are in the offing.

Frank Report readers know that for some time Raniere has planned to challenge the Camila photographs used at trial as evidence of three racketeering predicate acts – possession of child porn and two acts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Raniere must file any Rule 33 by June 19, 2022, the three-year anniversary of his conviction.

Meantime, Raniere’s food and clothes do magically appear for him, as they do for R. Kelly. The signal difference is that Raniere is not getting fat from prison food.

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Humanitarians

In 2003, Kelly released the song “Soldier’s Heart” and donated the proceeds to the families of American soldiers in need. Proceeds from his song “Sign Of A Victory” benefitted African charities. Kelly also donated to groups raising awareness of breast cancer, to families affected by the Flint, Michigan, water crisis and to Clara’s House, a Chicago charity that specializes in local housing, education and employment projects.

In the 1990s, Raniere gifted to the world his Consumers’ Buyline, a project meant to help the little guy buy with the strength of group purchasing power. The Attorneys General in several states, along with several thousand members, did not see it as helping out the little guy — unless of course Raniere meant himself.

They sued him, putting his noble company out of business.

In 1998, Raniere again gifted the world with his Rational Inquiry methodology – which promoted a more noble civilization. Despite the animus of the Illuminati, which Raniere constantly informed his followers was out to get him at every step, the company lasted 20 years – until he was arrested.

In 2015, Raniere gifted women with a special blessing. He created DOS, a sorority where women became slaves in order to become empowered. He was the secret leader of the all-female group. Most women who were recruited joined without knowing this fact, as well as another, minor detail: that a brand on their crotch was not the four elements but his initials.

Raniere was cut down at the optimal moment, after the noble branding of women and holding collateral of women designated as slaves – to empower them – by which they could be built to be more badass – when, after reporting from this blog, then the New York Times, prompted the US Attorney for the Eastern District of NY to up and arrest him.

Viva Executive Success!

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

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