Part #5 Alleged FBI Tampering: Delay, Delay, and Hide the Camera Card
Part # 5 ended with AUSA Moira Kim Penza predicting a superseding indictment.
On November 6, 2018, AUSA Penza told Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon:
Your Honor, I believe the Government has been more open than we often are in these cases. We were asked twice by Judge Garaufis and we said we expect a superseding indictment at some point.
She did not say what the new charges might be.
Part 6
On November 14, Raniere asked for bail a second time. For the first time, the DOJ revealed their theory that Raniere had relations with Camila when she was underage.
November 19
The DOJ opposed Raniere’s second bail application. They possessed alleged evidence of him having sex with a “first-line” DOS “slave” when she was 15.
This was Camila. They mentioned her alleged diary.
The government has obtained evidence that the defendant began having a sex with a “first-line” DOS “slave” when she was fifteen years old and he was forty- six.
Among other sources of evidence, journal entries written by the DOS slave before her eighteenth birthday reflect an ongoing sexual relationship with the defendant.
The date of Camila’s diary is July 2007. She does not mention Raniere by name, but refers to a “teacher” she had sex with.
The DOJ’s evidence of a relationship with 15-year-old Camila came from a search of Raniere’s emails. There was an attachment to an email that appears to be a text copy of Whatsapp chats between Camila and Raniere.
The chats occurred when Camila was in her mid-twenties. One email is much older, sent by Camila when she was 19. They do not paint a pretty portrait of Raniere.
30 Full Moons
This email was dated Thursday at 1:01:14 AM, February 21, 2008. Camila was almost 19 on that date. Camila sent it to Raniere.
Subject Full moon.
Full moon is tomorrow and that would make it 30 full moons that we’ve been together. Smiley face.
Subtracting 30 full moons from February 21, 2008, takes us back to the Harvest Moon, September 17, 2005.
Camila was attentive to the moon’s phases, said her family and friends. She would calculate by the lunar calendar. If the date is correct, she is wrong about the full moon. The full moon was not tomorrow, but that day, February 21. She sent the email after midnight. She might have spoken figuratively as if it was still Wednesday.
The Chats
There are seven probative chats. Six are evidence of an underage relationship. One chat is evidence of photographs.
Of the chats suggesting an underage relationship, some point to Camila being 15. Others to age 16. In New York, the age of consent is 17. Raniere is 30 years older than Camila.
[#1] 8.75 years
It is such a painful, bittersweet thing… The truth of our life together that could have been made real yet now is forever a secret and nullified… I love you so much…I’m so proud to have been your husband for 8.75 years… and shared a home for 4… Yet I am also so heart broken.
It may seem odd that Raniere used a fraction like 8.75 for years and months. It suggests precision. If we subtract 8.75 years from September 4, 2014, the relationship started on December 4, 2005. She was 15.
If Raniere’s 8.75 is accurate, he is off by 25 percent when they shared a home. Evidence at trial showed the lease of 120 Victory Way started June 28, 2011. That was three years, not four.
If we add a year, she was 16 and still underage. Camila did not respond to this text.
[#2] 8.5 years
Raniere again uses fractions. Where others might say eight and a half years, or eight years and six months, he says 8.5 years.
Raniere: Why else would you feel that way?
Camila: I am not disagreeing.
Raniere: Besides, you do not need that to do the right thing… Breaking up is the wrong thing considering that and 8.5 years… Fix first and never use breakup as a possibility…
Subtracting 8.5 years from October 2014, we get March 2006. Camila would be 16. Still underage.
[#3] 8.5 -Years #2.
Raniere: That is the summation of our 8.5 years together
[#4] 9 Years
Within the month, Raniere upped the relationship by six months, bringing the start back to age 15.
November 27, 2015
Camila: Please don’t be like this.
Raniere: Have I earned what I am demanding? If so, it is not cruel to demand it absolutely. If not, just leave. There is no cruelty. You though give me uncertainty when I have earned so much more over 9 years. 9 years plus the things you’ve done are cruel. Calling me cruel in light of that is cruel.
Nine years brings it to November 2005. She was 15, and this is close to the November 2 metadata date of the first set of photos.
[#5] Anniversary Text
Camila: Happy Anniversary, honey! ten years ago you changed my life.
Raniere: I love you, sweetheart!
FBI agents believed “anniversary” meant the date Raniere first had sex with a woman. For example, Daniela’s anniversary was November 2 – the Day of the Dead.
Subtracting ten years, this means Camila first had sex with Raniere on September 18, 2005. Camila was 15. This ties in with the full moon email. It also ties in with the date Camila said was her anniversary with Raniere – at his sentencing.
[#6] Inexperienced 15-year-old
Raniere: How many attractive, not socially defective virgins would give their life to someone like me at my age?
Camila: Ummm, all of them? You are handsome, sexy, strong, gentle, loving, funny, talented, have a beautiful smile, eyes, loving touch. What woman wouldn’t want that? You know for a fact that they all want you.
Raniere: Even an inexperienced 18-year-old?
Camila: Even an inexperienced 15-year-old.
Raniere: Would need to be a once in a lifetime person, and I had that and lost it.
By the end of 2018, FBI agents had read hundreds of texts between Raniere and Camila. In these, Raniere often laments how Camila had been with another man. They believed Raniere referred to Camila as the “once-in-a-lifetime” lost 15-year-old.
Statutory rape is a state crime. But federal law makes taking lascivious photographs of someone under 18 illegal. It is sexual exploitation of a minor. Possessing such photos is possession of child porn.
The next chat pointed to a federal crime.
[#7] Guard the Photos
Camila: Guard these pics, okay?
Raniere: Yes, of course…. You know I guard the other pictures, right?
***
Camila: From way back when?
Raniere: I wanted the original forever. I thought it was truly mine. Yes, from way back.
This might mean Raniere kept photos of Camila from years ago. He said he guarded them. If the photos on the hard drive were the originals, he did not guard them well. As of February 2015, he had not forgotten them. By November 2017, the FBI said he fled to Mexico, abandoning them.
The FBI focused on Camila. They met with her sister, Daniela, at least a dozen times, according to her testimony. They met with her brother, Adrian.
They learned about Camila’s appendectomy and how it left a scar. The FBI got the medical records. They knew the date of her operation was January 9, 2007, when she was 16. They would later argue that any photo without a scar should prove she was underage when she posed.
December 5
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis denied Raniere’s bail application.
2019
The new year started with the promise of a superseding indictment.
January 9
AUSA Penza said the DOJ expected new charges.
Penza said: “Obviously, the government is cognizant of the trial date that is set as of now, and we are moving expeditiously.”
January 11
Two days later, the DOJ moved to adjourn the trial. Agnifilo objected. He claimed the DOJ was stalling.
The government’s adjournment bag is now empty. There are no more defendants to add. There are no more superseding indictments on which to ruminate. It has to try the case. No more excuses. No more delay.
January 15
The judge adjourned the trial date to April 29. 2019
February 11
Discovery Hearing before Magistrate Judge Scanlon
AUSA Penza assured the Court that the Defendants “have everything from 8 Hale.”
That wasn’t true. A forensic copy of the camera card was not given to the defense. In fact, it was not disclosed that it existed. FBI agents checked it out twice for review by that date.
Raniere’s appellate lawyer, Joseph Tully, wrote that this was an instance of “the government misleading the Court and the Defense into believing that evidence had been disclosed when it indeed had not.”
February 21
- Marc Agnifilo (Raniere)
- Teny Geragos (Raniere)
- Paul DerOhanessian (Raniere)
- Jacob Kaplan (Raniere)
- Sean Buckley (Mack)
- William McGovern (Mack)
- Steven Kobre (Mack)
- Susan Necheles (Bronfman)
- Kathleen Cassidy (Bronfman)
- Gedalia Moshe Stern (Bronfman)
- Mark Geragos (Bronfman)
- Hector Diaz. (L. Salzman)
- James L. Burke (L. Salzman)
- Justine Harris (Russell)
- Amanda Ravich (Russell)
- David Stern (N. Salzman)
- Robert Soloway (N. Salzman)
FBI agents continued their search of the Western Digital hard drive [evidence item #2]. It was ten months and 26 days after the FBI seized the hard drive (332 days).
They found juvenile photos of Camila from 2005 by accident, they said. They said they were not looking for photos of underage Camila. SA Lever swore in an affidavit that the FBI was searching for crimes that occurred on or after January 1, 2015.
The warrant authorized searching for evidence of sex trafficking, forced labor, extortion, and racketeering involving Raniere that occurred on or after January 1, 2015.
Then they accidentally found the 2005 photos, Lever said.
On February 21, 2019, while searching the Device pursuant to the 8 Hale Warrant, FBI
agents found the Images, two digital images of a nude female whom the agents believed to be under the age of eighteen. (Second Lever Aff. 11-12.)The agents recognized this female as a DOS slave who they believed had sex with Raniere when she was fifteen. (Id fll 9-11.)
The Images’ metadata indicate that they were taken on or before November 2, 2005—a date on which the DOS slave in question was fifteen years old—and that they were taken on a camera seized from 8 Hale.” (Id UK 12-14.) The Images were also in a folder dated November 2, 2005.
As described in the February Warrant, the images depict a minor female who was known to law enforcement at the time the images were discovered, and who, subsequent to the photographs, became a first-line DOS “slave.” (Att. 2 ¶¶ 9-10).
The minor victim is shown in sexually explicit poses that are similar to those shown in the “collateral” photographs of other DOS members, obtained by the government pursuant to grand jury subpoenas and search warrants for the defendant’s email. (Id. ¶ 11).
The FBI was searching a black Western Digital hard drive. There was a parent folder called ‘Studies’.’ Inside were 11 sub-folders. Each sub-folder contained nude photos. According to testimony at trial, most photos were closeups of vaginas and no face. Some photos showed the faces of women. Each sub-folder had names that began with one or more letters, followed by a date in 2005. Each sub-folder contained photos of women known as Raniere’s sexual partners. Each started with the initial of her name or nickname.
Lever said he checked the metadata. He discovered that someone used the Canon camera [evidence item #1] to take the photos in 2005.
Lever said he saw two photos of Camila with her face and vagina.
The ‘V’ stood for her nickname – Virgin Cami, he believed. The 110205 on the folder stood for 11-02-2005. The Day of the Dead.
Camila was 15 in 2005.
Raniere was a dead man.
Before February 21, 2019, the DOJ’s case involved adult victims. Adults may consent or not. But a child cannot consent. This was evidence of a serious and repugnant federal crime. Possession of child pornography. The EXIF metadata showed the date of the photo was November 2, 2005, the same as the sub-folder name. The EXIF data showed the Canon camera took the photos.
There was another sub-folder name that appeared computer-generated. It corresponded to the November 2, 2005 date. Three things corresponded to the November 2, 2005 date.
The EXIF data, Raniere’s alleged name for the file, and a computer-generated name. There was contradictory metadata, which we will discuss later.
The EXIF date showed someone used the Canon camera to take Camila’s photographs. The DOJ alleged Raniere took the photos with his Canon camera.
This was a second crime. Sexual exploitation of a minor.
Lever knew Camila had appendix surgery on January 9, 2007, when she was 16. According to testimony at trial, there was no scarring on these photos. There was a second sub-folder within the V110205 folder.
There were eight more photos of Camila. The metadata showed the Canon camera took these photos on November 24, 2005.
The Second Circuit held that two is the threshold. Two times means “that a defendant is a “Repeat and Dangerous Sex Offender Against Minors.” Raniere engaged in a “pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct.”
“Proof of any two separate occasions of prohibited sexual conduct” means a “§ 4B1.5(b) enhancement.”
Agnifilo could no longer claim these were adult women. Did Raniere forget? Was he careless?
The FBI had chats that supported the photos dating. They had these before their accidental discovery on the hard drive.
They had her medical records for an appendectomy before their accidental discovery. Raniere let Camila know he guarded photos from way back when.
A video made by Mark Vicente in 2012 shows a black hard drive with a blue light. Right where FBI agents said they seized it six years later. Though SA Mills photographed the wrong device.
If no one tampered with the metadata, no one had been on the hard drive since February 2010.
Daniela testified she ran his computers and backups to hard drives. It was a month before she stepped into the room.
Daniela testified she found a “hidden folder” of nude women. It might have been the Studies folder based on her description. She testified she told Raniere that anyone might find the nude photos if she could find them.
Unlike the nude photos Daniela found in a hidden file, the Studies photos were not hidden. They were next to music folders Daniela digitized. The dates of the doomsday photos had a coincidence.
The Day of the Dead. Daniela’s “comical” anniversary of first sex with Raniere. The Camila photos were dated November 2, 2005.
The day the FBI discovered the photos, the DOJ instructed the defendants’ attorneys to destroy the hard drive copies. It contained child pornography. Lever had to apply for a new warrant to broaden the scope of a search for child porn. His affidavit states his discovery of the child porn on the hard drive took place on February 21, 2018. That would mean Lever inspected the hard drive before the FBI arrested Raniere. The judge said Lever meant to write February 21, 2019, not 2018.
. According to Judge Garaufis, it was a typo, not a Freudian error.
- A photo of a Lexar camera card similar to the one inside the Canon camera seized at 8 Hale.
February 22
On the day after Lever discovered child porn, he brought the camera and camera card to CART.
It was 333 days after the FBI seized it. CART forensic examiner Stephen Flatley took custody.
SA Lever took the black Western Digital hard drive from ECU. SA Lever gave “SW,” presumably meaning “search warrant,” as the reason for checking it out of ECU.
It is unknown what actions SA Lever took on the hard drive or who took custody of the device afterward. The hard drive disappears from the chain of custody. For reasons unknown, the hard drive never appears again on the FBI chain of custody.
It appeared at the trial, but what happened afterward is not known based on the custody report. It is unknown who has custody of it now. Or if it still exists.
Metadata led the FBI to assert when Raniere took the photos.
Metadata showed, the DOJ alleged, Raniere used a Canon EOS 20D camera. He saved them to a Lexar CF card. The DOJ had not disclosed they had the camera card yet.
The Canon with the camera card was the first item seized at 8 Hale. Evidence Item #1.
The DOJ’s theory was that Raniere took the photos in the fall of 2005. He used the camera card to upload them to a Dell Dimension 8300 computer – which was never found.
- A photo of a Dell Dimension 8300, not the actual computer, the FBI alleged Raniere used. The FBI did not find the Dell computer.
On the Dell, Raniere allegedly created a folder called Studies.
There were sub-folders in this Studies folder. Each sub-folder had initial[s] (or nicknames) to show who the subject was and the date of the photos.
Within the folders were sub-folders with what appeared to be computer-generated file names. The computer-generated names “roughly” matched the EXIF DateTimes.
The word “roughly” was the word FBI Senior Forensic Examiner Brian Booth used at trial.
Three things matched. The EXIF DateTime, the folders named after initials, and the computer-generated folder names.
Other metadata did not match.
The DOJ alleged Raniere took the photos on the Canon. Using the camera card, he transferred them to a Dell Dimension.
The time he transferred them is unclear. The FBI did not find the Dell Dimension.
According to the metadata, Raniere transferred the photos on July 26, 2003 – two years before he took the photos. It was also one year before the manufacture of the camera.
FBI Senior Forensic Examiner Booth explained the contradictions of metadata. He testified that EXIF data is hard to change, so it is reliable.
The DOJ alleged Raniere backed up the Dell Dimension to a Western Digital hard drive.
Ten of the 11 adult women in the studies folder appear to have posed at 8 Hale. Daniela posed at 3 Flintlock, according to her testimony.
In the Studies folder:
43-58: Barbara Bouchey J [Ja]
59-70: Dawn – D
71-78: Monica – MO
79-89: Kathy MSK [Miss Kathy]
90-98: Daniela -DF
99-109: Marianna and Pam MP
110-126: Loretta L
127-137: Marianna and Pam MP
138-149: Barbara Jeske BJ
150-163: CAMILA VC [Virgin Cami]
164-183: Angel – A
184-191: CAMILA VC
194-199: Kathy MSK
Ivy was not in the Studies folder. Yet there were Adobe Photoshop thumbnails of Ivy and Raniere in Bouchey’s sub-folder. They were in a cache file. How did they get there?
These thumbnails suggest Raniere did not take all the photos.
There were thumbnails of Daniela in Kathy’s file and vice versa. This could happen if the two files had once been the same file.
Chakravorty retained Dr. J. Richard Kiper, a retired FBI trainer of forensic examiners.
Looking at the hard drive, Kiper concluded: The dates seem altered, but someone made manual errors to cover it up. One of the alterations appears to be an attempt to account for Daylight Saving Time.
Someone left a fingerprint of an alteration on a photo that shows how they changed the metadata.
This is undeniable proof that someone modified the metadata.
Some of these folders have manipulated file creation dates.
We will discuss this more in Part #7.
Innocent until proven guilty. The FBI stands for Fidelity Bravery and Integrity. Wish you would show that.
As long as He who should not be named stays behind bars he can tap dance with all the evidence he wants ,He’s only going to get so many chances before he reaches the end of the road, then all the kiddies and even Suneel will leave him to rot there in prison for another 98 years just a distant memory.
How many times can the chef overboil the broth before it makes one puke by sniffing it three metres away?
🤔
Metadata scmetadata if the Fbi tampered a little, it doesn’t change one thing. The asshole is guilty. Even if the FBI made the metadata and the pictures a deep fake, Aristotle sausage, is right. He’s guilty.
If FBI knows it, they do what they got to do. J Edgar Hoover would never let a little metadata stop a conviction.
Points for the new approach in defending your vanguard dead-ender.
Why does it matter if the FBI tampered? He’s guilty.
It don’t. He’s guilty. The ends justify the means
I’ll try to read again but without constructing a timeline like Erasend did, this stuff is hard to read. Despite the authors claiming to be totally objective, this whole thing is coming off more like the building of a case rather than just an examination of the facts.
Perhaps Frank, Erasend or even Suneel could help if I seem to be missing something. I’m interested in the camera and the camera card specifically.
Seems to me that:
1) a camera is located, photographed and entered to evidence.
2) it sits there a really long time. Defense is not made aware of a camera card because even though the camera had been included in the list of evidence, the camera card was just sitting there inside the camera, untouched.
3) big meeting with Clare’s lawyer. Tells everyone to hurry up about it! They don’t care if the FBI needs to hire a third party. Just get it done!
4) the camera is checked out. No copy of the files are made because they were not at that stage. At this stage, they were opening the camera, locating the camera card and documenting its existence.
5) in addition to verifying the existence of a camera card, images were pulled directly from it to provide to the defense. This required the card to have been accessed, but no write block was required as this procedure did not expose any of the metadata except the date of last access. It simply allowed the images to be viewed and printed.
5) printed images were presented to the defense.
6) subsequent to entering the camera card, and pulling the images it was then sent to CART and the write blocked copy procedure was performed.
7) defense was then presented with the write blocked copy of the evidence.
It seems pretty cut and dried to me.
Any arguments to the contrary?
If so, please provide proof.
PS: I don’t think it’s odd that Keith took pics of Cami on his and Daniella’s “anniversary date”. Who cares if it’s day of the dead. He fucked Daniella the day after her 18th bday which so happens to be that day. Don’t forget, “he who has the most joy wins” and this man experienced plenty of “joy” with all 3 sisters in this family. Do you really think it’s impossible that Keith didn’t derive a little extra “joy” from taking these pics of her little sister on Daniella’s “anniversary” day?
One odd thing is the FBI did two forensic reports on the camera card. Maybe they did not like the first report. It only had Angel’s photos to match the hard drive.
So they did a second report, and 31 new photograph files appeared that were not in the first FBI report.
So they replaced the first report during the trial with the second report.
But funny those 31 new files all “matched” files of images in the Studies report. But a closer examination showed someone mixed up Daniela with Angel. So on the camera card, it’s Angel, and on the hard drive, it’s Daniela.
All that trouble to add 31 new files on a camera card, and they spoil it by using Angel’s photos, where Daniela’s should have been.
I’d like to see these reports.
They will be published soon.
Well done my2cents.
Thank you.
“The DOJ opposed Raniere’s second bail application. They possessed alleged evidence of him having sex with a “first-line” DOS “slave” when she was 15”
Is this meant to imply that the reason Raniere’s second bail request was opposed, and denied, was because of this “alleged evidence”? Because that’s false.
I actually read the 29-page DOJ response to Raniere’s second bail request. There is no mention anywhere in it of sex with 15-year-old Camila.
The response is well worth reading though:
“As the Court is aware, the defendant previously sought pretrial release over the government’s objection, proposing an unsecured bond of $10 million, with home detention to be supervised by a private team of 24-hour armed guards. (See Raniere First Motion for Bail, ECF Docket No. 43.) The Court denied the defendant’s motion….
The defendant now offers a bail proposal that is significantly weaker than the one already rejected by the Court. The defendant proposes pretrial release on a bond secured by less than $180,000, co-signed by individuals who do not appear to exercise any moral suasion over the defendant, with conditions of home detention and electronic monitoring.”
So, Raniere, in his arrogance, actually tries a second time for pretrial release offering even LESS than he did the first time. He’s thumbing his nose at the Court and the justice system. Look how that turned out for him.
It gets better. More from the DOJ response:
“The majority of the defendant’s thirteen-page motion for bail consists of arguments that have already been advanced and rejected by the Court or do not merit a response. For example, the first three pages of the defendant’s motion for bail consists of a description of the defendant’s “teachings” punctuated by footnoted quotations from Bertrand Russell, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche that bear no relation to the substance of the defendant’s motion for bond. The twenty-four-minute promotional video posted to YouTube and submitted to the Court is also entirely irrelevant.”
Raniere is an arrogant jackass whose court filings are a joke. He apparently thinks the bullshitting tactics he used back when he was philosopher king of Flintlock Lane are going to work on the Federal court system.
When this ridiculous Rule 33 motion gets passed around the court building, it will get roundly laughed at. It’s a joke and so is his pro se motion. It goes without saying that his request for an appeal doesn’t stand a snowflake’s chance in hell.
Nobody takes this clown seriously, nor his crazy theories about DOJ malfeasance. Nobody that is other than a handful of cult loyalists and, sadly, the FR.
Aristotle – I always thought your reading comprehension was second to none. Please reread the Bail Motion. You missed number IV.
IV. The Defendant Poses a Serious Danger to the Community #4
I’d like to know how he wasn’t.
Especially given what we now know about his shenanigans while in prison, it’s well known that Keith thinks he’s above the rules. He was dangerous because he would have tried to maintain control over his followers and their narrative as he still continues to do.
What did the report say?
It said he was a danger to the community and that the DOJ had evidence he started with Camila when she was 15. Sex, that is.
Makes sense to me.
You’re right. My bad, I missed the two sentences where the underage sex is mentioned.
A meager two sentences. On page 6. Part of item IV sandwiched between the branding and psychological harm as reasons Raniere shouldn’t be let out to prey on the community.
I confess that by page 6 of the prosecution’s listing of Raniere’s extensive crimes and outrages my eyes were beginning to glaze over a bit.
I recommend anyone who is interested in this case read this document. Its response to Raniere’s second request for bail is a great summary of the heinous crimes Raniere was charged with and ultimately would be found guilty of, by unanimous verdict by a jury of his peers. The prosecution’s case was rock-solid, as the verdict proved. The DOJ presented a coherent, concise case. They’re the good guys in this story. Let’s never lose sight of that fact.
This DOJ document stands in sharp contrast to the fuzzy argument presented by Chakravorty and the FR. Rambling and convoluted, the latter uses the tactics of vague accusation and innuendo to cast suspicion on the people who brought Raniere to justice and busted the Nxivm/DOS criminal enterprise.
I, quite frankly, find that scurrilous.
If there’s proof that the FBI tampered let’s see it. The longer this mush is drawn out, the less convincing I find it. It just looks like Nxivm bullshit to me.
Was familiar with most of the bail back and forth but the YouTube video submitted is just comedic gold. Thanks to Aristotle’s sausage will be checking it out again for laughs thank you for all your astute observations and relevant comments always enjoy them so much!
It appears Vanguard in those texts admitted the time frame.
Best evidence rule. An admission.
Truly disturbing facts, btw.
My opinion.
“There was an attachment to an email that appears to be a text copy of Whatsapp chats between Camila and Raniere.”
This evidence would be much stronger if Raniere had sent it. Camila could have conceivably made up or amended the chat content herself. Do we know if Raniere replied to this email?
8.75 years etc etc – all this evidence must be seen in the light of having possibly been made up. However, it may also have prompted the FBI to instigate a more detailed search of the hard drive (see below).
“AUSA Penza assured the Court that the Defendants ‘have everything from 8 Hale.’ That wasn’t true. A forensic copy of the camera card was not given to the defense.”
The nude photos of an underage Cami were on the hard drive so this is something of a red herring.
“January 9 AUSA Penza said the DOJ expected new charges.”
“February 21 FBI agents continued their search of the Western Digital hard drive…They found juvenile photos of Camila from 2005 by accident, they said.”
It seems likely that the images had already been earmarked as suspicious since they were obviously of a young girl who looked possibly underage. They would have had to firstly identify her and then seek corroborating evidence before they could be sure.
The fact that “The FBI had chats that supported the photos dating…before their accidental discovery on the hard drive.” strengthens the point above, and may have prompted Penza’s January 9th announcement.
“It [the hard drive] appeared at the trial, but what happened afterward is not known based on the custody report. It is unknown who has custody of it now. Or if it still exists.”
OK, this is a bit strange. Surely there are rules for how long evidence is kept following a trial?
“According to the metadata, Raniere transferred the photos on July 26, 2003 – two years before he took the photos. It was also one year before the manufacture of the camera.”
So this metadata is not correct for some reason. Does this prove tampering? Does this prove FBI tampering? Are there other possible explanations?
Continuing my time line, based on Frank’s articles. My thoughts on this article at the end:
2002: Family with three sisters Mariana (around 19), Daniela (around 16 at time), and Camila (around 13) move 12 Wilton Court
? – 2005: 3 Flintlock is Raniere’s primary residence
2003: Mariana, age 20, begins relationship with Raniere. Moves into 3 Flintlock, living with Raniere and 3 other women
2003: Daniela, age 17, begins relationship with then 43 year old Raniere.
2003: Daniela, age 17, begins working with Raniere at 3 Flintlock. Testified oral sex was “common occurrence” at the home. Unclear if still underage at time was performing oral sex.
2003: November, 2: Daniela, age 18, first penetrative sex with Raniere, day after she turns 18 on November 1.
2004, January: 8 Hale purchased by NXIVM
2005: 8 Hale becomes Raniere’s primary residence
2005, March 3: Daniela, age 19, sends Raniere 70 page email with catalog of his books, DVDs and CDs that she inventoried as moved them from 3 Flintlock to 8 Hale
2005: Daniela, age 19, works at 8 Hale. Responsible for Raniere’s computers and backup of files along with creating book reports for Raniere. Continues relationship with Raniere at 8 Hale.
2005, September 17 or 18: Camila, age 15, allegedly begins sexual relationship with Raniere, age 46, at 8 Hale based on an email sent possibly marking the occasion in 2008 and a WhatsApp conversation in 2015.
2005, December 4: Another possible date of relationship with Camila. Based on comment sent by Raniere to Camila in WhatsApp marking the occasion in 2014.
2005, October 17: Earliest EXIF date from a nude photo.
2005, October 19: Nine nude photos of Daniela, age 19, taken based on EXIF data. Daniela testified nude photos taken in 2005 at 3 Flintlock, did not know exact dates.
2005, November 2: Fourteen alleged pictures of Camila, age 15, based on metadata and EXIF data. Photos taken at 8 Hale.
2005, November 24: Eight alleged pictures of Camila, age 15, taken based on metadata and EXIF data. Photos taken at 8 Hale.
2005, December 30: Latest EXIF date from nude photos.
2006, March-April: Another indication of a relationship between Raniere and Camila, age 16. Based on WhatsApp conversation in October 2014.
2006: Raniere ends relationship with Daniela for kissing another man. Raniere was in sexual relationship with around 20 women at the time.
2006, July: An entry in Camila’s diary indicates sex with a “teacher”. Raniere specifically not named. At this time New York age of consent is 16. Diary not used at trial nor authenticated by Camila who did not testify.
2006-2009: Daniela continued to work at 8 Hale when Raniere not there. She digitized and backup his music collection.
2007, January 9: Camila, age 16, has appendectomy that leaves a scar on her lower abdomen.
2008, February 21: Camila, age 18 and 11 months, sent email citing “Full moon is tomorrow and that would make it 30 full moons that we’ve been together. Smiley face.” 30 full moons back would be about September 17. DOJ later interprets this to mean this is first time Camila and Raniere had sex. This is not confirmed during trial as Camila did not testify. She does verifies a version of this at sentencing.
2009-2012: Daniela, age 24, on Raniere’s orders to “make amends” for wanting to date other, is jailed for 23 months in her family’s main bedroom (father sleeps on living room couch). Little human contact as food is left outside door. Her mother also does a multi-month voluntary exile for her daughter’s “ethical breach”.
2011, ~July: Camila, age 21, moves into 120 Victory Way near 3 Flintlock to avoid having to sneak into 8 Hale to see Raniere.
2012, February: Daniela leaves her family jail, tries to confront Raniere but fails. Father forces her to move to Mérida, Mexico with $200 and no ID.
2012: Pictures and whiteboard of Raniere at work, shows external hard drives and DVD player on a shelf for anyone to access
2014: 8 Hale used as storage when Raniere moves to another home
2014, February 1: WhatsApp conversation between Camila, 24, and Raniere after Camila, 25, texted a photo. Camila: Guard these pics, okay? | Raniere: Yes, of course…. You know I guard the other pictures, right? | Camila: From way back when? | Raniere: I wanted the original forever. I thought it was truly mine. Yes, from way back.
2014, September 4: WhatsApp conversation between Camila, 24, and Raniere. Raniere: “I’m so proud to have been your husband for 8.75 years… and shared a home for 4”. 8.75 from current date suggests relationship started on December 4, 2005 when Camila was 15.
2015, September 18: WhatsApp conversation indicating a relationship with Camila. Camila writes “Happy Anniversary, honey! ten years ago you changed my life.” This would set Camila’s mark for start of relationship to September 18, 2005. FBI interprets this to be when they first had sex.
2014, October 15: WhatsApp’s conversation indicating a relationship with Camila. Raniere wrote “Besides, you do not need that to do the right thing… Breaking up is the wrong thing considering that and 8.5 years…”
2014, November 12: WhatsApp conversation indicating a relationship with Camila. Raniere wrote “That is the summation of our 8.5 years together”
2015, November 27: WhatsApp conversation indicating a relationship with Camila. Raniere wrote “You though give me uncertainty when I have earned so much more over 9 years. 9 years plus the things you’ve done are cruel.” 9 years would be around November 2005 when Camila was 15.
2015: Camila attempts suicide. Found by Raniere. Nancy Salzman determines minor injuries. Camila has sex with NXIVM trainer, tells Raniere, he ends relationship. Month of attempt currently not mentioned.
2015, October, 23: Raniere orders Camila to recruit a slave to seduce him via email.
2015, December, 27: WhatsApp conversation indicating a relationship with Camila. Raniere: “How many attractive, not socially defective virgins would give their life to someone like me at my age? | Camila: “…What woman wouldn’t want that? You know for a fact that they all want you.” | Raniere: “Even an inexperienced 18-year-old? | Camila: “Even an inexperienced 15-year-old. | ” Would need to be a once in a lifetime person, and I had that and lost it.”
2017, June 5: Frank Reports breaks story on DOS
2017, October 14: New York Times publishes story on DOS. Leads to FBI investigation.
2017, November 10: Raniere moves to Mexico
2018, January 18: FBI uses search warrant for Raniere’s Yahoo email which includes correspondence with Camila, discussions on a vow and collateral.
2018, February 14: FBI gets warrant for Raniere for sex trafficking and forced labor. Victims are members of DOS
2018, February 18: Frank Report publishes article on Raniere’s location as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
2018, March 25: Raniere captured by Mexican authorities near Puerto Vallarta and flown back to the USA
2018, March 26: Raniere arrested in Dallas by FBI. FBI get search warrant for 8 Hale.
2018, March 27: 8 Hale raided, FBI seize WD external hard drive and camera with memory card from office. Last used in 2012 based on comparisons with pictures from then. Total of 37 items collected. Items in custody of FBI SA Elliot McGinnis.
2018, April 4: FBI SA Elliot McGinnis turns over items to FBI SA Michael Lever
2018, April 6: FBI SA Michael Lever to Evidence Control Unit (ECU)
2018, April 19: Allison Mack and Raniere charged with Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking, Sex Trafficking and Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor
2018, May 4: Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis sets trial date for October 1, 2018.
2018, June 12: Raniere denied bail due to being a flight risk
2018, July 10: SA Rees removes Canon camera from ECU, contents of Lexar memory card has not been copied by Computer Analysis and Response Team (CART)
2018, July 24: Clare Bronfman, Lauren Salzman, Nancy Salzman, Kathy Russell arrested for racketeering and conspiracy charges with same charges added to Raniere’s case.
2018, July 25: During status conference, DOJ requests trial delay to January 2019, Judge pushes trial start from October 1 to January 7, 2019
2018, July 27: Camera with card returned to ECU. Unknown if card reviewed by SA Rees during the 17 days she had the evidence.
2018, August 8: SA Lever and SA Delise Jeffries remove WD hard drive from ECU and deliver to CART
2018, September 11: AUSA Moira Kim Penza asks for another delay of trial due to processing evidence and use of “third-party vendor” to facilitate reviewing the digital data. Chain of custody indicates WD hard drive and camera with card has been turned out to anyone outside of the FBI. Not indicated is if any other seized items are with third party vendor.
2018, September 13: AUSA Penza asks for delay as discovery on 10 to 12 TB of data would not be completed until mid-December, partly due to volume of data and partly due to capturing metadata for the digital files.
2018, September 18: Another status conference. Indications are CART has not yet processed the evidence. Not clear if this is specifically referring to evidence items 1 and 2 or any of the the 37 items collected.
2018, September 19: Forensic copy of WD hard drive made by CART FBI trainee Virginia Donnelly uses write-blocking software per CART procedure to prevent altering data while copying. FBI SA Lever checks out camera with card from ECU. The card has not been digitially copied by CART. File access dates of 9/19/2018 indicate card examined that day. Procedure is to examine the copy of the data, not the original source of the data.
2018, September 26: SA Lever returns camera and card to SCU.
2018, September 27: During pretrial discovery hearing, AUSA Hajjar comments on camera and pictures discovered during improper examination. Only printed copies of photos of several people is provided to defense. None are of Camila or Daniela.
2018, October 5: Digital copies of WD hard drive contents provided to defense. Not clear if this includes all digital data from all seized items.
2018, November 14: DOJ reveal have evidence of sex with minor when opposing Raniere’s second bail application
2018, November 19: DOJ reveals name of minor as Camila, when she was 15 and Raniere was 46. Currently a ‘first-line DOS slave’. Evidence they cite is diary entries from her alleged diary dated July 2007 referencing a “teacher”, an email sent when Camila was 19 and 7 chats in Whatsapp between pair that was attached to an email, sent when Camila was in her mid-twenties.
2018, December 5: Raniere denied bail application
2019, January 9: AUSA Pena expected DOJ to file new charges against Raniere.
2019, January 11: DOJ seeks to delay trial date
2019, January 15: New trial date set to April 29, 2019
2019, February 11: At Discovery hearing, AUSA Penza indicates Defendants have all evidence from 8 Hale.
2019. February 21: Nude photos of Camila are found on WD hard drive by FBI SA Lever. Metadata, folder date and file EXIF data indicates photos taken on November 2, 2005 by Canon EOS 20D camera (evidence item #1). Two nudes are found in folder labeled “V110205” subfolder. Another 8 photos, in same subfolder were taken on 11-24-2005 based on metadata and EXIF data. Photos indicate no appendectomy scarring that occurred on 01-09-2007 when Camila was age 16. Dates plus lack of scar would mean photos taken when she was 15.
2019, February 22: SA Lever brings camera and memory card to CART. SA Lever removes WS hard drive from ECU. Assumed it remained in his custody until identified in court nearly 4 months later.
2019, March 13: Due to explicit photos found on WD hard drive were prior to January 1, 2015 date, a second warrant using “plan view doctrine” was issued for the photos. Plain view was the hard drive was sitting on a shelf above Raniere’s desk that was part of the initial search.
2019, June 10: FBI Special Agent Christopher Mills identifies the black WD hard drive under oath during Raniere’s trial after initially calling saying the hard drive was silver or gray. WD hard drive is not returned to FBI’s ECU. Unknown where hard drive currently is.
Other notes on facts as presented:
– Mariana/Raniere goes from 2003, then age 20 to his 43, to unknown date with one son born 2017.
– Daniela/Raniere goes from 2003, her 17 to his 43, 2006, her at age 20. Ended for her kissing another man
– Camila/Raniere goes from 2005, her 16 to his 45, to 2015, her at age 26. Ended for sex with another man.
– Mariana and Daniela knew both were in sexual relationship with Raniere. It is not known if two sisters knew about his relationship with Camila
– Based on folder path, computer that had photos was a Dell Dimension 8300 desktop. Series first released in 2003, but date purchased unknown. Computer was not located at 8 Hale.
– Total of 167 nude photos found of 11 woman and 1 female child found by FBI on external hard drive at \BACKUPS\BKP.DellDimensions8300-20090330\Studies folder. Eleven of the those involved taken at 8 Hale, one at 3 Flintlock.
– Raniere describes Daniela as his “hacker” to collect information for him. He says this proves she had the skills to help the FBI frame him.
– Camila, who does not testify at the trial, later confirms at sentencing that nude photos were taken of her by Raniere early in their relationship. She indicated he took many pictures of her from 2005 to around 2008. Those other photos have not been found.
– 8 Hale March 27, 2018 search warrant authorizes seizure of items related to “evidence, fruits and instrumentalities” of “sex trafficking, forced labor, extortion, and racketeering” for dates “on or after January 1, 2015”. Items do include “computers or storage media” that can also be used to store collateral. The warrant describes collateral as including “explicit photographs and videos of DOS slaves”. A evidence log from the search includes a total of 37 items removed from the home including all computers and external hard drives.
– Evidence Item #1 is Raniere’s EOS 20D Canon camera which contains a Lexar memory card with photos
– Evidence Item #2 is described in evidence log with special agent’s signature dated 3/27/2018 as “2) Western Digital SN: WCA581365334”. A picture taken by FBI at the time places a yellow #2 note on neighboring Lacie hard drive SN: 154107441. Both items are next to a Sony DVD drive SN: 5042648
– Evidence Item #36 is Sony DVD drive SN: 5042648
– Evidence Item #37 is Lacie hard drive SN: 154107441
– During trial FBI Special Agent Mills identifies with nude pictures, from memory, as silver or gray. Shortly after AUSA Hajjar brings out the black WD drive which he then identifies from the scene.
– Dr. J. Richard Kiper, consultant paid by Raniere’s team, reports what he views as critical evidence of malfeasance:
– The camera containing and hard drive with child nude photos are first two items FBI seizes
– Numbering of evidence is done later due to multiple rooms being searched at same time which did not happen in the 8 Hale search.
– Seventeen days SA Rees kept camera with digital memory card is against evidence protocol as examination would have been performed by a CART examiner, not the agent.
– Digital evidence protocol is for Computer Analysis and Response Team (CART) to make forensic copy of data. The copy is what is then reviewed during the investigation.
– When camera and memory card forensically copied by CART, this is after SA Lever had examined contents of the card, copied the card, and printed pictures from card. Procedure is to perform these tasks on the forensic copy, not the original source device.
– No date is provided when FBI obtained Camila’s medical records to confirm date of her appendectomy.
My thoughts:
– Again this would play great to a jury, assuming they could follow it. None of this qualifies as new evidence as all of this should have been confronted by the defense at the time. I get your are trying to indicate lack of time to make the discovery due to DOJ’s discovery games but defendants could have asked for and would have been granted a delay to investigate the then new evidence. Failure to do so is on Raniere and company. I am betting his lawyers suggested they wait so could do just that and Raniere refused to allow it.
– This matters because standards for a jury trial are more flexible then standards for an appeal. At most you currently have a case against an FBI agent for failing to follow established protocols that falls under FBI problem if they wish to pursue it and not much else.
– Regarding thumbnails, copying photo into folder and later realizing mistake and deleting or moving it would have same effect. So would copying the folder itself and renaming it later. Need more info on the thumbnails if this proves relevant path of info. Most common from Windows XP days on are .ithumb file and the Thumbs.db
– When did FBI obtain Camila’s medical records? I do believe that would have required permission of Camila or a warrant. Since this is used as one of your supports for FBI having advance knowledge of nude photos (but oddly sat on it for over a year), the date of the warrant or permission matters.
– How hilarious is it that Raniere thinks talking about years and months to fractions is a big brain thing to do. Only to then be bad at it. Its like the 3 year old who insists on saying their age as 3 and 4 months and about as mature.
The FBI testified at trial that they got Camila’s medical records from her attorney. The FBI also said they had the medical records before they accidentally found the underage photos.
This just might be because they suspected, but had at that stage not definitively concluded, the girl in the picture was Camila. Getting her medical records was part of the process of trying to determine her age at the time the picture was taken.
That doesn’t say when they asked for and got the records, just how they got the records. That matters for you two’s little conspiracy theory of foreknowledge.
Once again, Erasend, very comprehensive. Much more fact based and informative than the dead-enders.
A big blind spot for the cult followers and Keith is their belief that NO ONE knew about CamI being sexually abused and photographed by Keith Raniere as a child.
Really anyone could have known. It just took eyes. They weren’t exactly as covert as the believe. A NEIGHBOR could have told the FBI. A loyalist looking to save their own ass. Cami’s mother could have made a deal. Nancy Salzman. The person who (may have) probably didn’t want to be known as a non reporter of childhood sex.
Just as likely the FBI read everything ever written on Keith every police record they scoured every corner of the earth and Came Upon all the stories of previous sexual assaults on children. It would have been too hard then to start looking at Targets who would fit Keith’s preferred age range and families that he had a close relationship with and access to their children. There are so many ways they could have known exactly what was going on and asked people the right questions and gotten the answers way before they went on the search for evidence to back it up.
It’s highly likely that Cami told someone about the abuse. Sexual and otherwise. All those EMs? A suicide attempt the eating disorder. All the mystery around where she lived?
Any observant person could have pieced it together. Bet Nancy Salzman knew.
Think about all the times you’ve had an intuition. Maybe stuffed it down. Pushed it away. All these women who hung on Keith’s dirty dick. You don’t think they sensed a little hunch? I maybe it wasn’t fully conscious and realized until details of the case started to come out and then they came forward with what they had always suspected.
Like the old saying and then song go “Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.”
Cami was very much alive. And young. She may have told medical professionals when she got her abortion or the people who helped with her eating disorder.
Cami may have told any number of people more details of the abuse. The possibilities are endless.
But statistically it is actually more likely that other people knew about Cami being sexually abused, then the possibility that no one knew.
And there may have been plenty of people who had suspicions but it wasn’t until other information became public that those suspicions solidified and then they went to authorities.
Ya never know… it’s actually very mentally lazy and rigid and tunnel vision for Keith and his cult followers to focus so much on Daniella as some big hacker and all that b*******.
It’s also really probably more about Keith continuing to keep Daniella in the role that he cast her in from day one. Out of the three sisters Daniela’s role was to give b******* and take the fall for everything.
And that still hasn’t changed. Except thankfully Daniela’s Keith b****** days are over
Yawn…how can so many words say so little.