Clare Webb Bronfman wrote a letter to Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis asking for leniency and, at the same time, expressing loyalty to Keith Alan Raniere, who was convicted in his courtroom of sex trafficking, forced labor, racketeering and other crimes.
Some think it was an unwise move on her part to profess loyalty to a convicted sex trafficker to the very judge that presided at his trial and will be sentencing her. See: Clare Bronfman to Judge Garaufis: I Will Not Disavow Keith Raniere, Nxivm or DOS!
One commenter, who evidently spent some time in prison, gave Clare some good advice in a previous post, Ex-Prisoner Has Advice for Clare Bronfman – ‘Prison Can Be a Great Opportunity. Now ALWAYS Anonymous has more to say and is addressing Clare Bronfman directly. Who knows, this being Clare Bronfman month at Frank Report, she might be reading the posts.
By ALWAYS Anonymous
Dear Clare;
I know you are greatly worried and under great stress concerning your imminent incarceration. I’ve been there and more.
The letter you wrote on your own behalf to Judge Geraufis was a total disaster. Despite your love and appreciation for Keith Raniere, a sentencing hearing is not the appropriate time and place to display it. No one is interested that you learned a lot in Nxivm, even if it is totally, 110% true. No one wants to hear that you still support a convicted felon, child pornographer and child abuser (even if the girl gave her consent, was a full 15 years old and it wouldn’t have been a crime in Mexico).
I’ve spent time in prison. I’ve been through parole hearings. The commonality between a pre-sentencing hearing and a parole hearing is that neither is fair.
In both situations, you’re walking in there as a convicted person. You are powerless to change others’ minds about your crime and the crimes of your friends.
In prison I had a really good friend who was convicted of murder. I loved the guy and would have done anything for him. But, speaking up for him at my parole hearing was not appropriate even though I loved him. It’s the same for you. You may love Keith Raniere but it is not appropriate for you to speak up for him at your hearing. Doing so invites disaster, for you and him.
I overwhelmingly suggest you rescind your letter written to Geraufis and admit you were blinded by misguided sense of loyalty and insanity. Throw yourself upon the mercy of the court and request to write a new letter.
I am not a professional prison consultant but, If you need help writing a new letter, I can give some guidelines. The court is interested in the following:
1) That you admit what you did was wrong (list all the crimes you did, state specifically the impact and pain it caused others);
2) Apologize to those you hurt (list them 1 by 1) and what you will do to make amends to them (restore them to complete financial health, apologize publicly);
3) State what you learned overall from a deeper understanding of your crime;
4) State specifically what you will do in your life to change to rectify the harm you have caused. Be specific. State how you will live your life each day, state what efforts you will take each day to restore yourself to full membership in society. (Pledge yourself to help others like you leave cults, publicly condemn sexual abuse to children).
What I’ve said above may seem shameful and disloyal to your friends. It is, in fact, disloyal. But, you need to reflect upon not just the good they’ve done but the harm they’ve caused. It’s this harm that has put in the situation you are in right now. You have the opportunity to rectify this harm by speaking out against the abuse they’ve committed.
