The Federal Bureau of Prisons [BOP] settled a lawsuit with prisoner Clare W. Bronfman by agreeing to remove her “public safety factor” designation of “sex offender” from her file.
The BOP will now transfer Bronfman, 43, from FCI Danbury’s satellite low-security prison to the Danbury satellite minimum security camp.
With the removal of the sex offender designation, Bronfman may qualify for the First Step Act or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. which may reduce her incarceration time by two years, according to her lawyers.
The BOP currently lists Bronfman’s release date as June 14, 2026.
In April 2019, Bronfman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens for financial gain [Sylvie Lloyd] and fraudulent use of the late Pamela Cafritz’s personal identification information.
Bronfman paid the bill for the late Pam Cafritz’s American Express card, which Keith Raniere used. after her death.
Following Bronfman’s plea, the United States Probation Office conducted an investigation and drafted a presentencing report [PSR] for the court. Despite Bronfman’s crimes not being sex crimes, the PSR listed the crimes of her co-defendant, Keith Raniere, who was convicted of sex trafficking.
The PSR further stated that Bronfman and two co-defendants “participated in efforts to recruit and secure immigration status for non-citizens,” so that they “could work in one or more NXIVM-affiliated organizations or [] become sexual partners for Raniere.”
Bronfman was convicted of recruiting non citizens to work, but was not convicted of recruiting them to have sex with Raniere.
Bronfman recruited Brit Slyvie Lloyd and harbored her illegally.
On September 30, 2020, Judge Nicholas Garuafis sentenced Bronfman to six years and nine months in prison.
Ronald Sullivan
At the sentencing, her attorney Ronald Sullivan, objecting to the PSR, said to Judge Garaufis,
“Clare Bronfman denounces and renounces, in all of its forms, any sex trafficking, any human trafficking, or any sort of sex cult, whatever the terms are. Clare Bronfman absolutely denounces that. As we said, at several points in our papers, [DOS] was a secret organization. She was not told about it, and because she wasn’t told about it, there is no way she would know about the branding.”
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis
Judge Garaufis agreed. He said, “Ms. Bronfman vigorously disputes the proposition that she was aware of either DOS or any sex trafficking that Raniere engaged in, and she vigorously disputes the proposition that she knowingly funded DOS or sex trafficking activity. I agree with Ms. Bronfman that the available evidence does not establish that she was aware of DOS prior to June 2017 [when Frank Report broke the DOS story] or that she directly or knowingly funded DOS or other sex trafficking activities.”
Initially, the BOP planned to assign Bronfman to a low-security facility in Tallahassee. Instead, the BOP placed her in the maximum-security Philadelphia FDC in December 2020.
Earlier this year, the BOP transferred her to FCI Danbury’s low-security satellite prison.
Once the BOP transfers Bronfman to the camp, she will live in an open dormitory without fences. Bronfman will have far greater access to visitors.
Bronfman sued the BOP after exhausting BOP administrative procedures to resolve the matter.
Duncan Levin
Bronfman attorney, Duncan Levin, said, “We are very gratified that the federal government has decided to remove the sex offender label from Clare’s file, which was unfairly applied to her. It’s unfortunate it took us having to sue the federal government to get this result.”
In 2018, Bronfman filed a net worth statement with the court, claiming she had about $200 million net worth. Her report failed to disclose ownership of Wakaya Island in Fiji and real estate in Los Angeles that this writer recovered for her in 2008.
Wakaya Island, owned by Clare Bronfman.
These assets add more than $100 million to her net worth.
Her portfolio, managed by trustees, has grown since her arrest in 2018. Bronfman contributed more than $10 million to defend Raniere and other NXIVM defendants. She spent millions on her defense. But her investments earn her millions. Her incarceration prevented her from spending untold millions pursuing lawsuits against Raniere’s enemies.
Frank Report estimates her net worth at $450 million.
Keith Raniere at USP Tucson, 2021
Backed by Bronfman money, Raniere, 62, also sued the BOP. To date, he has been unsuccessful. Unlike Bronfman, he did not exhaust his administrative remedies with the BOP. He jumped right to a federal lawsuit.
Raniere is currently at USP Tucson, a maximum security prison for sex offenders. USP Tucson officials assigned him to the SHU in late July, where he remains. Raniere claims the BOP is retaliating because he accused the FBI of evidence tampering at his trial. Raniere claims Tucson officials said they will transfer him to a prison where prisoners target sex offenders.
.Long Administrative Process
Bronfman’s road to her federal lawsuit success came after attempts at BOP administrative remedies.
On March 2, 2021, Bronfman filed an Informal Resolution Attempt with the Unit Manager at FDC Philadelphia. She claimed the BOP wrongly designated her to the institution due to the improper application of the sex offender PSF. The BOP denied her Informal Resolution Attempt on March 17, 2021.
Bronfman filed a BP-9 Administrative Remedy Appeal. The BOP denied it on April 1, 2021.
Bronfman filed a BP-10 Administrative Remedy Appeal. The BOP denied it on August 16, 2021.
In denying Bronfman’s BP-10 appeal, the BOP stated that Bronfman “participated in efforts to recruit and secure immigration status for non-citizens, some of whom were minors, so they could become sexual partners for a co-defendant.”
The BOP cited the recruitment of Jane Does 2, 3, and 4 as a justification for Bronfman’s sex offender classification. Frank Report identified these three Jane Does as sisters, Camila [2], Mariana [3] and Daniela [4].
Mariana lived with Keith Raniere and is the mother of his youngest son.
Bronfman appealed the denial of her BP-10 appeal by filing a BP-11 appeal on September 14, 2021. The BOP denied Bronfman’s BP-11 appeal on January 18, 2022 With this denial, Bronfman ran out of BOP options, but not out of money.
She took it to federal court in July.
Bronfman’s attorneys argued the BOP misinterpreted the PSR.
Bronfman’s attorney wrote, “The BOP appears to have… arbitrarily concluded that Ms. Bronfman participated in securing immigration status for non-citizens ‘so that they could become sexual partners for a co-defendant.’…
“The BOP’s interpretation, which is counter to both the judgment of Judge Garaufis and a rational understanding of the plain language of the PSR, is clearly an error.
“To be clear, Ms. Bronfman admittedly took steps to secure immigration status for an individual who would work ‘in one or more NXIVM-affiliated organizations.’…
“Ms. Bronfman did not act to bring people into this country to become sexual partners for Mr. Raniere—including Jane Does 2, 3, and 4—nor was she ever accused of such misconduct.”
He denied Bronfman recruited the sisters, and denied Bronfman knew that Raniwre had a sexual relationship with Camila when she was underage.
Bronfman said Mariana and Camila came to the United States with their father, mother, and brother in 2003. The family’s decision to join NXIVM had nothing to do with her.
Daniela testified she helped recruit her family. Lauren Salzman recruited Daniela when she was 16. Daniela joined about the same time as Bronfman.
An artist sketch of Daniela.
Rather than risk trial, the BOP agreed to no longer designate her as a sex offender.
It took her almost two years and cost her time, grief and money – though she could afford the latter.
In this, we see a glimmer of karma. Bronfman used the legal system to punish hers and Raniere’s enemies even when she knew she had a losing case.
She did it because she had the money and could wear her opponents down by putting them through a long expensive road of bankrupting court proceedings.
Bronfman remained in maximum security, while the BOP gave scant regard to the details of her appeals. Why should they? They had the power, just like Bronfman once did.
But the worm has turned. Bronfman is now the one with less power. She won a victory, yes, a small one. She is still in prison.
Once, she tackled the publisher of the Frank Report – thinking to bury him like all the rest. In fact. it was her attack that caused the creation of the Frank Report.
And the result was she found herself in prison. So now she will go to a camp and maybe be released in a year or so. But not before others made her suffer through the legal system, like she made others suffer.
Sure, she was not convicted of sex offenses and should not have been placed in facilities as if she had been.
Viva Executive Success!
