Keith Alan Raniere, 62, is in a fight with his captors, the US Bureau of Prisons. He does not feel they are treating him fairly. So, he is suing him.
Raniere is the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the US Attorney General Merrick Garland, and others who operate the BOP and the prison from whence Raniere wrote his affidavit – USP Tuscon.
As it stands, Raniere is in the SHU – the Special Housing Unit – a segregated housing cell where conditions are a bit stiff. He has been in the SHU since fellow inmate Maurice Adonis Withers, 33 punched him on July 26.
Maurice Adonis Withers punched the Vanguard.
And while Adonis got out of the SHU months ago, Raniere has been there since he woke up from the knockout. That’s more than 100 days.
Adding a touch of inelegance to the already less than gentile living conditions, he has been shacked up with no less a personage than William Anthony “Toni” Fly, a prisoner in a men’s prison who says he is more woman than man. Fly has also alleged he has been raped more than 75 times since he has been in federal custody.
There are people who say they would love to be a fly on the wall inside prison watching Keith Raniere. But this guy gets to be that fly on the wall. He is Toni Fly and he and Raniere share a cell in the SHU.
Raniere thinks his captors put this oft-accusing prisoner Fly in as his cell mate to set him up.
But why should I drone on about things that are much better said by the man himself – the Grandmaster, Vanguard, Keith Alan Raniere.
Here is his filing in the US District Court for the District of Arizona.
Now what follows are the glistening words of what might be the world’s smartest prisoner.
By Keith A. Raniere
I, Keith Raniere , pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, and based upon my personal knowledge and experience, hereby make the following declaration.
1. I am currently incarcerated within the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, AZ.
2. I am currently housed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU).
3. I was brought here after I was assaulted in the chow hall on 7/26/2022.
4. I was given an incident report (IR) for fighting.
5. On 8/9/2022 Officer Estrada told me that the IR would be expunged.
6. I was notified on 8/23/2022 that it had been expunged.
7. I have not yet been returned to general population, despite not receiving any disciplinary sanctions.
8. Officials here are holding me here in “administrative segregation” (AD SEG) pending an “investigation”.
9. I have was only informed of the subject of the investigation on 8/26/2022 more than a week after the IR had been cleared.
10. I was interviewed on 9/20/2022.
11. I did not express any fear of returning to general population.
12. I believe I can program very well in the general population at USP Tucson.
13. I did not request a placement in protective custody.
14. I did not request a transfer to another facility.
15. I do not want to be transferred, as I believe that would endanger me.
16. There is no functional difference between AD SEG and disciplinary segregation.
17. I am locked in my room 23-24 hours a day.
18. I am allowed to have only minimal property.
19. I cannot use the phone, or the email system to communicate with my family and friends.
Marie White’s painting of Raniere in the SHU.
20. If I am let out for recreation at all, it occurs in a 5×10 cage, and lasts less than an hour.
21. I am often caged with sex offenders.
22. I have not been informed of my “custody reviews” which are supposed to occur every seven days, but which policy bars me from attending.
23. Nor have I been informed of my 30 day reviews which I am allowed to attend.
24. I have never declined to attend any review.
25. I want to participate in these reviews, but have never been given the opportunity.
26. I have never been given the chance to express my concerns about the retaliation I’m experiencing, or my current cellmate who I believe was placed with me to set me up for a sexual assault charge.
27. My current cell mate, Tony Fly, has filed about 75 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) complaints.
28. My current cell mate is in segregation after having been raped in her cell, taken to the hospital, and placed on suicide watch.
29. The perception of me as a “sex cult” leader makes the placement of Ms. Fly with me extremely suspicious, and inappropriate.
30. I would never harm Ms. Fly, but I believe she was placed in my cell to fabricate a new charge against me.
31. If staff are doing custody reviews at all, they are doing them without my input or participation.
32. I have never been given a copy of any of the reviews, nor have I ever refused to sign, or refused to accept one.
33. I would have raised my concerns to the person giving me the form.
34. I believe my placement in AD SEG for 97 days and counting for some specious “investigation” is clear retaliation from prison officials for my unpopular crimes of conviction, and my continued legal efforts to clear my name.
35. I am supposed to see a member of my unit team every day.
36. Since my placement in SHU I only spoken to my unit team once a week.
37. From 10/6/2022-10/24/2022 I did not speak to my unit team at all.
38. My unit team is responsible for giving me grievance forms to allow me to formally contest this situation.
39. Because my unit team only come once a week I have a very hard time obtaining grievance forms. I ask for them, and the officer often does not remember to bring them the next week.
40. Other than a cursory exam when I first got here, I have not been examined by a member of the medical staff, since I have been placed in SHU.
41. I repeatedly asked for an ice pack to reduce the swelling in my face, but neither medical staff, nor security staff brought me one.
42. I have not been evaluated by any member of the mental health staff since I have been placed in SHU.
This is the end of Keith Raniere’s affidavit.
Now, I, Frank Parlato, pursuant to the policies of the Frank Report and based upon my personal knowledge and experience, hereby make the following observations.
I note that Raniere refers to Toni Fly as “she.” OK. But keep in mind old Fly went to prison for raping his 15-year-old daughter. He did not rape his daughter as her mother, but as her father.
So I am going to refer to Fly as he. I don’t care if he wants to be a woman. If a guy uses his dick to rape his own daughter – a girl he fathered – he doesn’t get called a woman by me.
Raniere can call him “she.” But I’m with the BOP. This guy is a rat. And no way should the BOP let a person who rapes a girl as a man loose in a woman’s prison.
By the way, Fly, 53, stands about 6’2″.
He may be getting raped all the time by near-sighted and desperate prisoners. But based on the looks of him, it could be all fabrications.
Fly is mentally ill. He is also a liar.
And he is angling to be enough of a nuisance to the BOP to be transferred to a woman’s prison.
Then he won’t be making rape allegations. The women will be making rape allegations against him.
So, I’m with Raniere. He could be in a bit of danger with Fly if he leaves his fly open. So to say.
Keith Raniere is a hair shorter than Toni Fly. This photo taken at USP Tuscon shows him to stand about 5’3″ inches tall.
I love the part where Raniere says “I would never harm Ms. Fly, but I believe she was placed in my cell to fabricate a new charge against me.”
No Raniere wouldn’t harm a fly or Ms. Fly.
Another guy who dressed as a woman (for a film) said, “They’re probably watching me. Well, let them. Let them see what kind of person I am. I’m not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They’ll see. They’ll see and they’ll know, and they’ll say, ‘Why, she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’”
But this is all irrelevant. I have little doubt that the BOP will ship Raniere out come January to another prison. Probably a prison Raniere will like a lot less than where he is. Probably a prison where Raniere will voluntarily ask to be in the SHU for his own protection.
Tuscon has had enough of him.
