This is Part #3 of “Nancy, the Victim.” The lady who served and profited alongside Keith Raniere for 20 years – and who now claims to have known nothing about his true nature until after her arrest.
Attorney David Stern could teach a class on creative writing. Instead, he chose to be Nancy Salzman’s lawyer.
Nancy Salzman’s lawyer, David Stern, wrote in her sentencing memorandum that Nancy, “was never anything more than a tool for Raniere.”
Yes, Nancy was noble and Raniere knew it. That’s why he did not tell her about DOS, not the ethically upright Prefect.
DOS brand
Stern writes, “When his depraved plan reached its crescendo in the creation of DOS, all of the members, including her daughter, Lauren, were ordered to keep it secret from Nancy, and they did.”
If Nancy had known, she would have quit on the spot, or would she?
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Nancy Salzman with Sara Bronfman at V-Week 2017. After learning about DOS, she continued to stay and teach up until the day she was arrested.
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When They Are Wrong, the Noble Admit It
Nancy in London with Sara Bronfman and students on an overseas teaching excursion.
Nancy was too noble to fight when in the wrong.
Stern writes, “She accepted responsibility, which broke a defense logjam and paved the way for all but the lead defendant to enter guilty pleas.”
MK10ART’s artwork of five of the Nxivm racketeers.
Stern wrote that Nancy “became the first defendant in the case to accept that many of the things she had been taught by Raniere were false, and that the man she had thought and had taught others was ‘infallible,’ was actually deeply flawed, and vicious to the core.”
Nancy Salzman looks down upon her vicious Vanguard.
“The consequence of these steps led her to plead guilty, notwithstanding the pressure and opprobrium directed at her by many former friends, including, of course, Raniere himself.”
Did Raniere heap opprobrium on her? He was in custody at MDC and not permitted to talk to her. How did he do that?
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Nancy Saved Lauren
Nancy and Lauren Salzman
According to Stern, Nancy should be respected for saving Lauren.
Stern writes, “Her decision and genuine remorse for her wrongful conduct had ancillary benefit for the Court and justice system at large, because, following that guilty plea, others, most notably her daughter, Lauren, realized it was indeed possible to renounce Raniere, despite the many who still steadfastly remained faithful to him.”
Stern continued in his touching memorandum a yarn of familial love.
“After pleading guilty, Ms. Salzman made the decision to try to cooperate with the government. Nancy assisted where she could and provided information that helped the government to prepare. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, she encouraged Lauren to plead guilty and to assist the government.”
MK10ART’s painting of Nancy Salzman
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Nobly Remorseful About Lauren
It is clear from the memorandum that Nancy wanted the judge to know she felt truly sorry, as any good mother would, for bringing her daughter Lauren into the horror cult.
MK10ART’s sketch of Nancy Salzman
Stern wrote, “She has struggled with the guilt of exposing Lauren to Raniere’s sadistic attentions.”
Though Nancy knew from early on that Raniere had moved on sexually from her to her daughter and that the lascivious lecher of Clifton Park told Nancy to never to have sex again with any other man, Nancy did not glean the slightest hint that Raniere was selfish, evil, depraved, or even a sex fiend.
She pushed the relationship forward between her innocent daughter and the man she only learned was a sex fiend after she was arrested.
As Stern writes, “while Nancy had led a full life prior to meeting Raniere, Lauren had not. She joined Nxivm at her mother’s urging, straight out of college. As a result, she has never had a normal relationship, a family of her own, or an adult social life. She knew only the twisted relationships and underlying belief systems as they relate to interaction between the sexes, of Raniere.”
Still, Nancy had no clue of the enormous evil of monstrous Raniere.
After her arrest, this woman, with the noblest sentiments of motherhood welling up in her breast, after encouraging a relationship with Raniere and her daughter for 15 years, advised Lauren that being in Raniere’s harem was not a good thing after all.
After 15 years of being promised a child, as Nancy watched her biological clock ticking for her daughter, Nancy never once said to her child — “Go, get a husband if you ever want to be a mother. This Raniere liar will never do what he promised.”
Stern writes of Nancy, “She is responsible for the conditions under which Lauren has lived from the age of 21 to 41, and bears much responsibility for what her daughter was exposed to during that time, as well for her daughter’s arrest and felony convictions. Her guilt was greatly compounded by Lauren’s severe depression following her arrest. Nancy deeply believes that the pain to which her daughter has been exposed is entirely her fault and regrets her role in that debacle every day of her life.”
MK10 ART’s painting of Nancy with the snake-like tongue.
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She Accepted Responsibility Though a Victim Herself
Greater than the guilty accepting responsibility is the innocent sacrificing for others. Such is Nancy Salzman.
How quick she was to accept responsibility, even when she was innocent. How fine it was of her to be first to step up onto the Plea Deal Bus.
The Plea Deal Bus: It may not be big, but those who get on first usually find the best seats.
Stern writes, “Nancy accepts responsibility for enabling the horrific crimes Raniere committed, even where she lacked any knowledge of their commission or nature.”
Blanket acceptance. Though she hadn’t the slightest clue of the evil Raniere did [she thought he was trying to create a more noble civilization], she will take the fall, will shoulder the burden.
Why?
“She herself feels the weight of responsibility for not making herself more aware of the enormity of what ‘Vanguard’ Raniere was doing at the helm of Nxivm, an entity that she had co-founded with him, and that was her life’s work.”
Such a noble lady. Innocent of wrongdoing herself she nevertheless accepted the full measure of responsibility.
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Innocent of Crimes Too
Her lawyers explain that, though she pleaded guilty, despite being a victim, she is not guilty of anything more than loving too much and believing in goodness too strongly.
Nancy Salzman and Keith Raniere
Stern writes, “As to identity theft, while she herself lacked the technical ability to invade the on-line accounts of others, Nancy agreed between 2006 and 2008 that other Nxivm actors [the truly guilty ones] would invade the privacy of perceived critics of the company to try to stop them from continuing their criticisms of the company, or to gain unfair advantage over them in ongoing litigations.”
Nancy did not do any identity thefts, she merely did not stop others from following Raniere’s orders.
“For this wrongful conduct, she accepts responsibility.”
“Among Raniere’s unscrupulous business tactics [but not Nancy’s tactics] was the utilization of the great wealth of some of his followers [the Bronfman sisters] to hire lawyers to misuse the court system, and thereby intimidate those he considered to be his enemies.”
No, Nancy did not have a hand in conspiring to alter records turned over in civil discovery, but the lady “accepts responsibility for allowing others to alter video tapes.”
It was Raniere and Mark Vicente in June 2008 who altered videotapes and removed segments from them without having the videotapes appear altered.
“Clare Bronfman, together with another co-conspirator [not Nancy], helped Vicente with altering the videotapes to remove content, including segments in which Nancy Salzman made unsubstantiated health claims about Nxivm’s curriculum. These videotapes were then produced in discovery by Nxivm’s attorneys with the false claim that they were provided in ‘unedited fashion.’”
The Prefect did not do it.
Stern further explains, “The government has painted Nancy’s guilt… with too broad a brush by including her in the retention of the Canadian investigation company, Canaprobe… Nancy was never aware of Canaprobe’s retention by Nxivm, and neither played any role in its retention or direction, and had no knowledge of any services they rendered, despite the fact that records, about which she was ignorant, were recovered in her home at the time of her arrest.”
In short, she did not do a damn thing other than doing what Raniere told her to do and she thought it was for the welfare of the world. How could anyone think she is guilty of anything?
MK10 Art – portrait of the lady whose birthday was known throughout NXIVM as “The Festival of Flowers”.
MK10ART’s painting of mother Nancy Salzman with her daughter Lauren Salzman.
MK10ART painting of Nancy Salzman, the first to take a plea deal, testifying against Nxivm – which, of course, never happened.
The original NXIVM defendants: Sketch by MK10ART.
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Old Parent
After doing all this immense good, and suffering more than any victim, Nancy was arrested on July 24, 2018.
She led the charge to save the other defendants by pleading guilty.
This noble lady never stopped doing good. After her arrest, “the health of Nancy’s parents.. failed… Nancy has dedicated herself to their care and to the mission of allowing them both the dream of dying in the home they have resided in for over 70 years, instead of in an institution. That goal was achieved with respect to her father, and his letter memorializes the eternal gratitude he felt toward his daughter shortly before his death. Nancy was at his side until the very end.
“Now Nancy cares for her mother, whose mental health has failed precipitously recently… Nancy’s mother is alone. She is frail and confused and looks to Nancy for her every need. Ms. Loshin is extremely anxious when she does not see her daughter and would be gravely impacted by her incarceration.”
Despite all of these compelling arguments, the judge sentenced Nancy to serve 42 months in Federal prison.
Viva Executive Success!
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How Could Anyone Believe Nancy Knew Anything About Keith?
They can’t. She was completely deceived.
Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman when they were newly partnered.
Sara Bronfman, Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman
Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman
Pam Cafritz, Nancy Salzman and Keith Raniere.
Vanguard [Keith Raniere] and Prefect [Nancy Salzman]
Keith Raniere has owned Nancy Salzman for years. But that ownership may now be rescinded.
When the Dalai Lama came to town, Mr. Raniere and Ms. Salzman attended together.
