After a five-year investigation by the FBI, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of NY (Brooklyn) filed an indictment charging the founder of OneTaste, Nicole Daedone, and a former employee of the San Francisco company, Rachel Cherwitz, in a one-count indictment in April 2023.
OneTaste is a woman-owned company that teaches classes on “sexual wellness” and that there is a spiritual and not merely physical connection with “female orgasm,” which the company purports to teach both men and women.
In the US, even in Brooklyn, where no classes were taught, it is not illegal to teach these ideas. The US Attorney in Brooklyn did not charge Daedone and Cherwitz with teaching untrue philosophy.
No Forced Labor Charges
In general, the media seems to report this case as a forced labor case. But it is not. The US Attorney did not charge Daedone and Cherwitz with forced labor.
The Forced Labor Statute (18 US Code § 1589(b)) makes it illegal to force someone to work against their will through threats, physical harm, or other forms of coercion.
The US Attorney in Brooklyn charged the women with only one count: Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor (18 US Code § 1594(b)), which makes it illegal to “conspire” (agree with another) to force someone to work against their will.
They need only plan it with someone else to be guilty of conspiracy to commit forced labor. A conspiracy is a “non-substantive” crime, usually the planning and scheming of a crime, and actions taken in furtherance of committing the “substantive” crime. A defendant does not have to force someone to labor.
Rare Charge
Research by FR shows there have been 27 cases since Congress enacted the law in 2000, where US Attorneys charged defendants with forced labor conspiracy – in effect, of planning to commit forced labor. That’s about one case per year nationwide.
In 26 of those 27 cases, the US Attorneys charged more than a single count of “conspiracy to commit forced labor.”
Keith Raniere
In 25 of the 27 cases, the indictments came with the substantive charge of forced labor. In other words, the government not only charged these 25 defendants with conspiring to commit forced labor, but also alleged the defendants pulled it off.
In one case – the prosecution of Keith Raniere – the US Attorney charged him with forced labor conspiracy, but not forced labor. However, the US Attorney charged Raniere with a raft of substantive crimes, such as sex trafficking and racketeering.
In only one of the 27 cases, the US Attorney in Brooklyn’s indictment of Daedone and Cherwitz, was forced labor conspiracy the only charge in the indictment.
That makes this case a first in American legal history. Every other time the government charged conspiracy to commit forced labor, the indictment included other crimes, like actual forced labor or related offenses.
It will not surprise many that of all the 27 cases, this indictment is not only the first time the conspiracy charge stands alone, but also the first time in the history of the conspiracy to commit forced labor law that only women were charged.
In every other case, it was either men or both men and women.
How Come No Forced Labor Charge?
The reason why there was no other charge against the women, significantly no charge of forced labor, is apparent.
After a five-year investigation that began in 2018 and ended in 2023, the FBI did not uncover sufficient evidence that Daedone and Cherwitz forced anyone to labor.
This is obvious, because if there was evidence, the US Attorney would have charged them with forced labor, instead of being the first US Attorney in the nation to charge conspiracy to commit forced labor as a stand-alone — as the only — charge in a federal indictment.
It is also obvious that because there is no charge of forced labor, but only a conspiracy to commit forced labor, there can be no victims of forced labor.
It is rare in any state or federal prosecution where prosecutors charge only the non-substantive crime without a substantive crime, which means without a victim.
Imagine such things as conspiracy to commit racketeering, where the defendants did not commit any racketeering.
Or a conspiracy to sex traffic where no one had sex; the men only planned to make women have sex.
The main reason the feds always charge a substantive crime along with forced labor conspiracy is that there is allegedly a substantive crime and alleged victims.
This is the first case where the government alleged the defendants conspired, but failed to force anyone to labor.
The Time Frame
US Attorney Breon Peace
The US Attorney in Brooklyn is Breon Peace. President Joe Biden nominated him and the US Senate confirmed his appointment on October 5, 2021.
He alleges Daedone and Cherwitz conspired to commit forced labor “in or about and between 2006 and May 2018.”
In the indictment, the US Attorney in Brooklyn does not allege this is an ongoing conspiracy. He dated its end as May 2018 – six years ago.
The alleged conspiracy began and ended without evidence of forced labor.
The indictment makes that clear. The indictment states that two women, Daedone and Cherwitz, conspired for 12 years to force people to labor. They gave up six years ago, having failed in the object of their conspiracy – having failed to force anyone to labor.
These are facts. Not opinions.
If the US Attorney in Brooklyn had the evidence to prove forced labor against these women, he would have charged them with forced labor, not just conspiracy.
After all, he is not their friend.
There is additional proof in the government’s filings.
The indictment does not name a single victim – not even a John or Jane Doe victim.
In the US Attorney’s court filings, he explained, “the instant case charges a conspiracy and not a substantive offense. The defendants could be proven guilty if they never forced any victim to do anything—so long as the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that they agreed to do so.”
In Brooklyn, two women who never lived in Brooklyn stand indicted for conspiring to commit forced labor without committing forced labor.
First Amendment Issue?
On its face, the indictment gives clues that this is a morality prosecution. The charges are not suitable for a liberal place like San Francisco, where the women lived and operated the business. But a Brooklyn jury might decide differently.
Some words the prosecutor used in the indictment might arguably make intelligent jurors question whether the prosecutor just does not like what the women were teaching, and may be trampling on the First Amendment.
The indictment includes words such as “association,” “teachings,” “ideology,” and “enlightenment.” If you examine these in context, which we will do in a subsequent post, the indictment is exposed. at least in part, as an attempt at morality policing.
When you consider OneTaste did not operate in Brooklyn or the Eastern District, that Daedone never had “association,” “teachings,” or taught an “ideology” there, or suggested there was such a thing as “enlightenment” in Brooklyn, the case becomes more hazy.
As far as the record shows, Daedone may never have been inside the district until the US Attorney charged her with conspiracy and she had to appear in court.
Behind the Curtain
The secret to the Brooklyn charge is that when the US Attorney thought he had a forced labor case, he had two women who lived in Brooklyn. These two women appeared repeatedly in the media and were able to cry on cue, which is always a requirement for a female victim. Unfortunately for the prosecution, the two so-called victims in Brooklyn have been exposed as liars and worse (more on that later).
However, after spending five years on the case, how could the EDNY drop it? The EDNY is short on conviction stats. In the highly competitive world of prosecutors, conviction stats are the gateway to judgeships and promotions in the DOJ. To spend five years and come up with nothing is a hard pill to swallow.
So the US Attorney charged a conspiracy anyway, hoping the jurisdictional problem would go unchallenged.
But there are other problems with the case.
The indictment states the two women began their 12-year conspiracy “in or about and between 2006 and May 2018.”
Evidence in the public record indicates Cherwitz did not meet Daedone until 2007. One can argue that the indictment is only off by one year. But a year is not insignificant. It suggests the government has many hazy allegations that, once placed in the sunlight, won’t glitter but stink.
The prosecution’s case is looking a little flat right about now..
From Victim to Conspirator
There is another curious element.
This was an unsuccessful conspiracy. There are successful conspiracies. Some people conspire to commit crimes and do them.
Taking the indictment as true, we can conclude that the women conspired to force “OneTaste members” by subjecting them to work under the required legal elements of forced labor for 12 years and failed. Because they failed, the only option for the US Attorney was to charge conspiracy. But like a tango, to have a conspiracy, you need two.
Evidence suggests he picked Cherwitz as the conspirator only after the FBI tried to persuade her to be a victim.
Rachel Cherwitz and Nicole Daedone
Many people within the OneTaste community discussed it at the time. This occurred during the lengthy time of the investigation, when the FBI targeted Daedone, seeking a forced labor charge.
Cherwitz flatly told the FBI she was not a victim and could offer no help in their quest to charge Daedone with forced labor falsely.
They told Cherwitz she was a victim, who did not know it. But they were there to help her once she realized it.
The US Attorney, stuck without a forced labor victim, decided to shift his case and make Cherwitz the necessary second conspirator.
To show the kind of promised help the government had in mind, he authorized 20 SWAT team agents and a helicopter overhead to arrest the woman, who was a victim but did not know it, and haul her in handcuffs to a jail cell to await an arraignment and a bail hearing.
As it stands today, Mr. Breon Peace, the US Attorney in Brooklyn, charged Nicole Daedone and her alleged victim-turned-co-conspirator, Rachel Cherwitz, with conspiring for 12 years, almost exclusively in California, to force people to labor, but never pulled it off.
Sure, we know they taught objectionable things about sex and enlightenment. Bad things. Things which in Brooklyn might be very bad, though not so much in San Francisco.
But they failed.
And we all know why they failed. No one wants to say it. You conspire for 12 years to force someone to do labor, and you never succeed once. Yes. We know why they failed.
They were women.
