According to a source at USP Tucson, an inmate attacked Keith Alan Raniere. Raniere was “sucker punched,” according to our source. He was not badly injured.
The attack lasted only seconds.
Guards came and Raniere was sent to the SHU, along with, reportedly, the other inmate.
The incident occurred following the recent rerun of TNT’s The Heiress and the Sex Cult on TV at the prison. The one-hour show featured the history of Clare Bronfman.
Susan Dones, Maja Miljkovic, Sarah Berman, Kristin Keeffe, and I also appeared.
I served as a consulting producer on the show.
The inmates watched the episode with interest, since one of their own, Raniere, was featured in it.
Within hours, an inmate attacked Raniere.
Raniere is serving a 120-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking, and attempted sex trafficking. His projected release date is June 27, 2120. He will be 160 if he lives that long.
Raniere arrived at USP Tucson on January 21, 2021.
Lawsuit Against BOP May Be Dismissed
On May 5, 2022, Raniere filed a lawsuit alleging the BOP was interfering with legal calls and preventing him from speaking to his power of attorney, Suneel Chakravorty.
USP Tucson
The BOP seeks to dismiss the lawsuit. They claim Raniere failed to use the BOP’s Administrative Remedies Program before filing the lawsuit.The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires prisoners to use administrative remedies before suing,
In their filings, the BOP shows Raniere knew about administrative remedies. He had recourse to them when he had a disciplinary matter in 2021.
The prison alleged Raniere used inmate Timothy Brooks’ email and phone account to send messages to Nicki Clyne.
Raniere told officials, “I suggested he contact her, because she runs an inmate program and her information on a DNA site.”
The prison found Raniere committed the prohibited act of “use of email and phone for abuses other than criminal activity.”
Raniere does not have email privileges.
Brooks emailed Clyne, writing, “Anytime you need to get word to Keith, you can contact me. Just be discreet, and maybe we can call him K-dog, that keeps everything out of The Man’s face and me kosher.”
Brooks also wrote to Clyne, “K-dog say see you Sat.”
Clyne visited Raniere on weekends, before the BOP suspended her as a Raniere contact.
Raniere stated to the BOP that he didn’t know he could not have another inmate contact Clyne.
No criminal conduct was discovered in their communications.
