Keith Raniere is likely to remain at the Brooklyn MDC for at least the next 50 days and quite possibly even longer.
According to a source familiar with the case, Raniere is not going to be moved to a permanent prison until restitution hearings are over.
Since victims have until January 27th to file for restitution, this means a hearing will not likely be scheduled prior to that date. Raniere is entitled to attend hearings.
I would expect if there were no COVID-19 problems, a mid-February hearing might take place. There very well may need to be more than one hearing, which could drag on into March.
This could be good for Raniere who expressed concern that if he is assigned to a regular maximum security prison and placed in general population, inmates might abuse him. Raniere fears he will be considered a child molester and might even be killed in prison.
His concerns were first published on the Frank Report and soon became international news.
The purpose of restitution is to “restore victims to the place where they stood when they became victims of crime. It seeks to make them whole and no more. Restitution in federal criminal cases is a matter of statute [and is part of the sentencing process. The Probation Service prepares a presentencing report that includes a preliminary assessment of what restitution, if any, is appropriate. The parties are free to challenge and supplement the report. The government must establish the existence and extent of any right to victim restitution by a preponderance of the evidence. Both the government and the defendant may appeal the court’s restitution determinations.”
If there is contention over the award of – or the denial of – various restitution claims, it may take some time before the matter is settled and Raniere is ready to be transferred.
Frank Report is urging the Bureau of Prisons to find a safe placement for Raniere, such as a facility with a drop-out yard or in a prison with a high ratio of sex offenders so Raniere will not be singled out as unique for being a sex offender. We urge the BOP not to place Raniere in the Supermax in Florence, Colorado where he will be unnecessarily placed in solitary confinement for years, an inhuman punishment for any human being no matter how vile.
Raniere seems safe at MDC; he has been there for more than two and half years. The facility is presently on lockdown based on a rise in cases of COVID 19 there.
The current COVID problem at the facility suggests that restitution hearings may be delayed beyond February – which means that Raniere may be at MDC for several more months.
A December 3rd EDNY court order reveals:
“In light of the continuing increase in COVID-19 cases both nationally and throughout the Eastern District of New York and the surrounding metropolitan area, and in order to protect public health and safety, Paragraph 5 of Administrative Order 2020- 26, issued and made effective on November 24, 2020, is hereby amended as follows: 5. Criminal Proceedings Other Than Trials: For the period December 4, 2020 through January 19, 2021, all criminal hearings, conferences, sentencings, and change of plea hearings shall be conducted remotely, unless the defendant declines to waive the right to be physically present and the Court concludes that the matter cannot be postponed in accordance with the CARES Act.
All other provisions of Administrative Order 2020-26 shall remain in effect.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: Brooklyn, New York
December 3, 2020
Based on this, it appears sentencing of the remaining Nxivm defendants, Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, and Nancy and Lauren Salzman will likely be postponed to some date beyond the January 19, 2021 date.
They could agree to be sentenced remotely. That might be unwise since it would make it easier for victims to speak. Victims could simply call in on Zoom to make their statements. Both Raniere and Clare Bronfman declined to be sentenced by video conferencing.
This is ironic since Raniere sued Microsoft and AT&T for patent infringement alleging that he invented video-conferencing. He lost the lawsuit and was sanctioned by the judge for lying to the court.
It may be just a matter of time before most/all U.S. District Courts shut down for several months.
Federal trials, appearances in Capital Region postponed by coronavirus (timesunion.com)
***
NXIVM.com for Sale
Now for those of you looking for that unique Christmas present for someone special – and those of you who just can’t pass up a great bargain – Nxivm.com is for sale. The company, in disarray with criminal charges against its top leaders, and with the government seizing the company and its assets, apparently let its domain name expire and a trader picked it up and is offering it for sale at the very reasonable price of $10,000 [about the cost of two intensives].
The owner, Dan.com, hints that they might take less, suggesting prospective buyers can make offers.
Fake Nxivm News
Nxivm is becoming so popular that it is even part of the fake news world.
Or how about this one:
UPDATE: NXIVM cult linked to Congressional Oversight Auditor Assassination
We can’t forget this story which I am reprinting: [My comments in bold and brackets.]
Meghan Markle has connections to sex-trafficking cult NXIVM?
By Dr. Eowyn
December 8, 2020
This post first appeared at Fellowship of the Minds
Before she married Britain’s dim-witted Prince Harry less than two years ago, Meghan Markle was a minor Hollywood actress in the cable TV show, Suits.
But she was more than an actress. Persistent rumors on the Internet (see here and here) say she was also a “yachter” — an actress or model, typically female, who supplements her income by prostituting herself on yachts owned by millionaires/billionaires. The term “yachting” however has been generalized to include not just prostituting on yachts, but sex-for-pay with wealthy men no matter the venue. (Urban Dictionary)
According to the National Enquirer, in 2017 after Harry and Meghan engaged to be married, MI5 scrubbed the net of Meghan’s salacious past, sealed her court and medical records, and silenced her friends and acquaintances with hush money and non-disclosure agreements (NDA).
But Markle was more than a yachter — she may be connected to the torture and sex-trafficking cult NXIVM.
Enterprising tweeter ken @ken21710790 found a 2014 tweet by Hannah Bronfman that referred to Markle.
Hannah Bronfman, 32, is the niece of Clare Bronfman, the youngest daughter of billionaire former Seagram liquor chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr.
{Hannah is not a member of Nxivm, though I understood she took a Nxivm course, possibly two, at the urging of Clare. But she did not become a regular member.]
Clare and her sister, Sara Bronfman, were heavily involved in the NXIVM criminal enterprise as financial backers, committed followers, and trainers. On April 19, 2019, Clare Bronfman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain – and fraudulent use of identification. She faces several months in prison when sentenced.
[Actually, Clare got nine months – plus six years.]
Meghan, who lived in Toronto for 7 years as an actress in Suits, has the enthusiastic support of Canadian prime Minister Justin “Blackface” Trudeau. Trudeau recently grandly declared that Canada would pay for the hefty security costs of Meghan and Harry who announced they wanted to “scale back” on their royal duties to live in North America.
It turns out that Justin Trudeau also has a connection to the Bronfmans.
According to a report by The Guardian, Trudeau’s chief fundraiser and senior adviser is none other than another Bronfman — Stephen Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, who was instrumental in Trudeau’s successful bid for the leadership of the Canadian Liberal party in 2013 and the premiership two years later.
[Stephan Bronfman has nothing whatsoever to do with Clare Bronfman, other than they are cousins. Their fathers are brothers. None of the Bronfman family is too pleased with Clare, none wrote letters to the judge asking for leniency. None showed up at any of her court hearings including her crucial bail hearing. Her half-siblings [of the same father, Edgar Bronfman, but different mother] seem to want nothing to do with her and must be most unhappy that she disgraced the family name.
[Of the Bronfman family, only Clare and Sara Bronfman are involved in Nxivm. The rest of the family seems to find Nxivm odious. The idea that anyone who has any association with any member of the Bronfman family is somehow associated with Nxivm is nothing but fiction. Megan Markle included.]
