Frank Parlato
End of the Line for Direct Appeals
There is not much left for Keith Alan Raniere now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected his bid for a new trial. He is likely to finish out his career at USP Tucson.
The Second Circuit’s order virtually ends Raniere’s direct appeals. While he could petition for an en banc rehearing before the entire judicial body of the 2nd Circuit or seek Supreme Court review, his winning either of those are long shots. Like a million to one.
For one thing, his claims are fact-specific, and the Supreme Court does not reexamine factual findings. A separate § 2255 motion pending before Judge Garaufis is all he haa left and that is supremely likely to fail, given the appellate court’s rejection of the same arguments.
The Claims of Fabricated Evidence
HIs big problem – other than being one of the most dislike persons in America (which is a problem in our system) Raniere is accusing the FBI of cheating.
It is likely true. They cheated. But that doesn’t matter. The FBI cheats all the time.
Nobody cares. Raniere is serving a 120-year sentence for sex trafficking, racketeering, and related crimes. That’s where we want him. In the slammer. He wants to get out just because the FBI cheated to put him there. Nobody cares. He alleged in his appeal and again in his pending §2255 that prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York had “falsified, fabricated, and manipulated all the key evidence” and that his forensic experts concluded “the FBI must have been involved in this evidence tampering.”
Yeah? So what do you got? That and $8 will buy you a mocha grande at Starbucks.
The Second Circuit rejected Raniere’s claim without seeking an evidentiary hearing as to whether the FBI tampered with evidence. That was wise for what they don’t know, they can claim they never saw.
The panel came up with a grand excuse: They decided his evidence was not ‘newly discovered.’
This spells doom for his § 2255 motion, since it is highly unlikely (odds one in 425 million) the trial judge, Nicholas Garaufis, is going to make findings different from those the 2nd circuit found.
The Missing Memory Card
The court ruled that he had the camera, hard drive, and FBI-created forensic reports before trial; that whatever he did not get, his defense expert could have had access to at the FBI lab; and that his counsel cross-examined the government’s forensic examiner on metadata issues during trial.
What the court did not mention was that, based on the federal rules of evidence, Raniere should have received a clone of the camera’s memory card. He did not. How could he. The FBI fu–ed it all up when they botched the tampering with it.
The FBI seized it, lost custody of it (supposedly), and, when it reappeared, the FBI’s own reports showed it contained 32 new photo files that were not in the original forensic report. Nice try fellas.
Those files, tied in with files on the seized hard drive, formed the basis of the digital evidence underlying the child exploitation predicate act—alleging Raniere had produced and possessed explicit images of Camila when she was under eighteen.
The Second Circuit held that even if the FBI tampered with the evidence, any error was harmless given corroborating evidence, including testimony and communications, indicating an intimate relationship with Camila around the time the photos were taken. That’s cute because Raniere was not charged with underage sex. Raniere was not charged with statutory rape; the predicate act concerned the creation and possession of sexually explicit photographs of a minor. The proof of that is the metadata of certain photgraphs.
Two Reports, Thirty-Two New Files
The record shows that prosecutors provided FTK forensic reports in place of the actual card clone. According to defense reports, two versions existed: the first contained 32 fewer files than the second, which was substituted mid-trial.
The ruling that Raniere is not entitled to get the clone of the camera card is helpful to government cheaters everywhere. It creates a roadmap for concealment: What the defense fails to uncover before the verdict cannot be pursued afterward—an outcome that encourages the prosecutors to emply the strategic withholding of evidence.
No Bias Found, Praise for the Judge
The court also denied Raniere’s motion to recuse Judge Nicholas Garaufis, finding no indication of bias. It held that the judge’s decision to limit the cross-examination of Lauren Salzman just as she was about to unravel her plea agreement and help Raniere out -was a reasonable exercise of courtroom management, not evidence of “deep-seated favoritism or antagonism.”
No it was just protecting the government’s case.
The appeals court ended its order by praising Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis “for handling this seven-year litigation with skill, patience, and restraint.”
That’s a great way to cover for their colleague.
Institutional Considerations
Raniere is, after all, accusing the FBI of fabricating evidence. Federal judges tend to protect the appearance of fairness because the appearance (not necessarily the reality) defines public faith in the system.
To admit FBI corruption would be to admit that other convictions might be tainted.
Raniere’s case is about public perception, not FBI cheating. The cheating seems likely. But that’s not the point.
Raniere’s crimes were horrific, his name synonymous with abuse and control. Branding women. Master and slaves.
The idea that he might win on a “technicality” just because the FBlI needed a little insurance to ensure they would win, is no reason to let him go free. It would cause public outrage.
If the FBI falsified evidence in this case, where else might it have happened? The public needn’t know. Every conviction could be questioned then. The judiciary’s credibility depends on the FBI’s perceived integrity. No court cares if the FBI cheats. The judges only care if the FBI gets caught.
If the FBI altered evidence, the conviction is legally compromised. So no, the judges are not going to let the FBI get caught. They long ago green lit FBI cheating – from back in the day wen J. Edgar Hoover had something on every judg .
It is more comfortable for the judiciary to be willfully blind abut the FBI. It ensures bad guys like Raniere are convicted. And if a few innocents get in the way, that’s the cost of putting bad guys away.
Raniere’s guilt is certain. He’s a scoundrel But letting him out would offend our collective sense of fairness more than any FBI misconduct would. If the FBI can’t cheat to put a bad guy in prison what are they good for?
The Irony of Control
The courts prioritize outcome over due process—because outcomes sustain confidence, and confidence sustains the system. There’s irony in that—because that’s how Raniere ran NXIVM. He built a world around the illusion that he was the smartest, the most ethical, the man whose word was final. In NXIVM, he was the court of last resort.
He demanded absolute obedience to his own rules to protect his image and preserve his power, without concern for truth or justice. And if somebody cheated – to recruit, or get money from, or have sex with, or to shun or punish or put in prison, it was part of his higher ethics.
He has been defeated by a judicial system that does precisely the same as he did. Raniere was perhaps cheated, much as he cheated others.
And in the deeply philosophical words of those in the know, it’s called karma or better still judicial economy.
Viva Executive Success!
Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.
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Rest assured Patell is weeding out all FBI-corruption, himself giving a leading example by using the FBI-jet for private travel…..
He is not going to get out.
ok, so they knock off 15 years for the child sex abuse? He still has 105 years for all the other cult stuff.
with time off for good behavior (and time served) he would get out in 71 years and 5 months. Nothing to sneeze at.
Frank,
When will you have another PHONE CALL with KR?
That is up to him. I’m availablle all day tomorrow.
He will walk, he is after all:
“THE SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD”
Raniere is an evil human but no worse than those running the world.
Our judicial and prison system are destroying the American public and any one of us can find ourselves imprisoned and powerless.
Putting people in cages for years and life needs to be revisited.
In the Onetaste case alone two non violent, capable intelligent women may have a decade or more of their lives stolen from them. How is this justified? Why is it warranted?
Imprisonment has become and industry and our rights are being eroded.
“Think crimes” are landing people in jail in violation of the First Amendment
Thank you Frank for your concern and dedication to bringing the critical issues of our judicial system to light.
Still very confused about one thing.
In every other case involving racketeering, money laundering and fraud, the people who benefited and profited from the fraud are subjected to something called a clawback, even if they weren’t connected to any wrongdoing.
How come the people who made serious money with this company never had their accounts frozen and their assets seized? Why is this the first and only instance in American history in which the FBI did not claw back dirty money?
Assuming that the fraud even existed, and that this wasn’t just a massive moral panic, which has since been replaced with the Epstein Mythology and the Summer of Epstein.
A nation of poorly informed pearl clutchers, terrified of anything and everything except the people who are actually hurting them.
This is exactly what inspires
Ultimtely Keith will win.
Frank, why don’t you post my comments? It’s happened several times over the past year. You can respond to my email address with the explanation.
Keith is in it for the long haul. From Albany to Brooklyn to Tucson to Hades.
Frank wrote: “There is not much left for Keith Alan Raniere now that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected his bid for a new trial. “
Claire can buy him a pardon from Trump.
Nope. A pardon will never be granted by Trump. It’s not politically possible.
Raniere isn’t loved by a big portion of the population, like Ross Ulbricht was.
A sentence commutation is at least within the realm of possibility, but highly unlikely.
Trump has raised hundreds of millions in donations already. His future presidential library is already paid for. He’s got tons of donation money coming outta his ears.
Thus, he can’t be swayed as easily as others.
Raniere is simply hated by too many people — both on the political right and the political left.
There’s no upside to commuting his sentence because he’s hated by nearly EVERYBODY.
George Santos was loved by many republicans (and his crimes were relatively small compared to Raniere), so there was an upside there.
Ross Ulbricht was loved by the majority of Americans, so there was a huge upside there too.
But Raniere isn’t loved by anybody except a small handful of followers.
Your calculations are way off. Ain’t gonna happen.
Have a good day. 🙂
Trump is pardoning is only pardoning Ghislane Maxwell….
Sad. There are many criminals who did worse things than KR who served less time: murderers, rapists. But his case was a big news story and the judge got lots of press. KR deserves to be released. Lauren, Nancy, Allison and others and were just as guilty.
What a shit show. Raniere deserved a lengthy prison term of 10 to 20 years for horrific acts; but he did not deserve a virtual double life sentence.
However, this might have turned out much differently if he had the humility to recognize the impacts of his behavior and sincerely apologize to all he hurt.
I’d say poor Vanguard has a much better than 1 in a million chance of getting a new trial. Once the FBI cheating and corruption patterns become more common knowledge, there may be some momentum to revisit past cases. The worse it’s been, the better the odds.
If they were smart, Clare would start using her money to find as many FBI whistleblowers as possible. Find them. Parade them around. Hire them as “consultants” and pay them way more money than they ever could have dreamed of making at the FBI. Then go find more.
That’s the path to a new trial. Unlikely, and would take a lot of work, but the project is already fully funded.
If I was Clare, the first thing I’d do is pay Frank what she owes him. Then write another huge check to Frank and let him show her how to proceed in the new mission. Many of us would probably be pissed at Frank for turning heel. But he’d be acting consistently with his desire to take down corruption, and he’d be able to afford to take Nancy out to nicer restaurants.
I agree with the strategy of highlighting FBI malfeasance, but time is not on Vanguard’s side. If sunlight is truly the best disinfectant, Raniere could potentially petition the Second Circuit for an en banc rehearing on the basis that allowing a Brady violation is incongruent with SCOTUS precedent. Simply saying that it doesn’t matter if the FBI cheated because there was other corroborating evidence to back up the charges is anathema to American jurisprudence. A federal judge recently accused the DOJ of adhering to a “indict first, investigate later” methodology.
In an unrelated matter, a former Massachusetts state police investigator’s malfeasance was partially responsible for a jury returning a not-guilty verdict on murder and manslaughter charges in a recent criminal trial. The result is that numerous other investigations and convictions in which the former state trooper took part are now being re-examined…a real headache for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Are Frank and Nancy Salzman really a couple? It would be a great story, although somewhat bizarre.
“Parlato puts Nancy in jail, Parlato marries Nancy upon release!”
No. They just used to make come-hither looks at each other. But according to Frank, nothing else. Even though Frank knows all about the delicious omelettes Nancy makes for breakfast…
And according to Frank, nothing happened when he used to spend the night at Clare’s house…
I have been transparent about it from the start. I did spend many nights at Clare’s horse farm. In my own private wing!
Nope. You’re wrong, my friend.
What you fail to realize is that Raniere is strongly disliked by nearly every demographic and every political group (democrat/republican/women/men).
Therefore, there will always be ZERO political pressure to reverse his conviction and give him a new trial under any circumstances.
Nothing will change UNLESS a huge wave of politically important groups began pushing for him to receive a new trial. But they’ll never do that, because Raniere is not a sympathetic figure.
Many people would argue that Raniere has no redeemable qualities and should not be returned to society.
Frank helped to shape the public’s opinion of Raniere — but no human being could reverse that perception, not even Frank.
As for FBI whistleblowers, any FBI agent who admitted to ‘faking evidence’ would be admitting to committing a felony. Job gone. Pension gone. Freedom gone.
It’s never gonna happen. You’re delusional.
I have some advice for you…
I suggest that you kindly PULL YOUR HEAD OUTTA YOUR BUTT and stop making illogical points. Stop acting like a political hyena, sir.
Have a good day. 🙂
So what are the odds? I know your pigeon-toed awkwardness has made you hate sports, but we can put odds on things other than sporting events. Or do you agree with Frank’s aphorism of 1 in a million odds? Think for yourself, you suck-up.
NutJob,
Frank can afford to take out Nancy.
Someone is projecting…..
Correct outcome. Any errors by the FBI, even if true, were “harmless error” and did not alter the outcome. Judge Garaufis and the jury despised KR, and he was correctly found guilty.
Now the length of the sentence is arguably too long and should have been the focus of the appeal, not bashing the FBI and calling the judge dishonest.
Oh well, maybe Suneel and Clare can offer to wipe Trump’s behind so he will commute the sentence like George Santos. Seems like all that is left for the “world’s greatest problem solver.”
Good point, the sentence should have been appealed. It did not fall into commonly accepted legal guidelines.
Regarding Trump, Santos and Raniere: who would you rather have walking around on the streets? They’re all sick and sociopathic. I’ve got no favorite.
Your 💪 work has genuinely made me sick. You deserve tp eat sh–t and die. The FBI doesn’t cheat!
Thanks for being someone we can always count on for genuine insulting of the federal justice system.