Criminal Justice

Raniere Sentencing Delayed – Again

05/14/2020·

K.R. Claviger

Back on April 29^th – when U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis granted Keith Raniere’s latest request to postpone his sentencing – the judge made it very clear that he had run out of patience with all the delays that had taken place since Raniere was found guilty on all counts back on June 19, 2019.

MK 10’s portrayal of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis

And so, when he granted that request, the judge set June 23, 2020 as the “date certain” for Raniere’s sentencing hearing.

Here’s the Order that the Judge issued on April 29th:

ORDER re: Keith Raniere’s [869] Application to Adjourn Sentencing Deadlines. The Application is GRANTED. The court adopts Mr. Raniere’s proposed briefing schedule. A Fatico hearing, if necessary, will be held on June 15, 2020 at 10:00 am in Courtroom 4D South or by live video conference, as the circumstances require. Mr. Raniere’s sentencing hearing will be held on June 23, 2020 at 10:00 am in Courtroom 4D South or by live video conference, as the circumstances require. The parties are DIRECTED to provide the court with the names of individuals who may wish to be heard at Mr. Raniere’s sentencing hearing by no later than 10:00 am on June 19, 2020. No further adjournments will be granted. Ordered by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on 4/29/2020.

*****

But Sometimes, “No” Doesn’t Mean No

Despite the wording of the April 29^th Order, Raniere has managed, once again, to have his sentencing date postponed.

And this time, he managed to get it put off indefinitely.

In a new Order that was issued on May 13^th in response to a filing from Raniere’s attorneys on that same day, Judge Garaufis has postponed the sentencing to some indeterminate future date.

Here’s the new Order:

ORDER re: Defendant Keith Raniere’s [872] Consent Motion to Adjourn Sentencing. The Motion is GRANTED. Defendant’s sentencing hearing and Fatico hearing, if necessary, are ADJOURNED until such time as Defendant can be produced for proceedings in open court. The June 1 deadline for Defendant’s sentencing memorandum and the June 8 deadline for the Government’s sentencing memorandum are likewise ADJOURNED sine die. All other deadlines set by the court remain in effect. Ordered by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on 5/13/2020.

In this context, the Latin term “sine die” means that the proceedings in question have been postponed with no appointed date for resumption.

And so it is that Keith Alan Raniere – AKA Federal Prisoner #57005-177 – will likely spend at least several more months at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, NY – which has served as his home-away-from-home since March 2018.

MDC animated mk10art

The reason why Judge Garaufis didn’t set a new sentencing date has to do with some of the language set forth in the CARES Act – and the follow-up Administrative Order that was issued by Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the Chief Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

Per the CARES Act – which was the federal statute that was enacted in response to the coronavirus pandemic – sentencing via videoconferencing is allowed only if (1) the defendant can consult with counsel; (2) after consultation, the defendant consents to a video sentencing; and (3) there are “specific reasons” that the sentencing cannot be delayed without “serious harm to the interests of justice.”

Raniere’s attorneys further argued that Chief Judge Mauskopf’s Administrative Order precluded the use of videoconferencing for Fatico hearings.

But, as they pointed out, regardless of whether that’s an accurate interpretation of that Administrative Order, “Raniere does not consent to such a hearing being conducted remotely”.

*****

Why Does Raniere Want to Further Delay His Sentencing?

It’s hard to fathom exactly why Raniere wants to postpone the inevitable.

Maybe he’s hoping that Judge Garaufis will be felled by COVID-19 – and he’ll end up getting a new trial.

MK10art coronavirus

Or maybe he’s working on an elaborate escape plan that will result in him being whisked away to Wakaya Island in Fiji.

wakaya isd

Wakaya has a number of blue lagoons. It is about 5 miles long.

Or maybe he’s developed a close, personal relationship with one of his fellow inmates at MDC – and doesn’t want to leave him just yet.

Welcome To MDC

Or maybe he’s worried that once he’s placed in the general population of a regular prison, he’ll be at the mercy of the other prisoners there.

According to his attorneys, Raniere wants his sentencing delayed because he hasn’t been able to consult with his attorneys often enough in recent weeks (Federal prisons have basically been in lock-down” mode since April 1^st).

Teny Geragos & Marc Agnifilo

As they argued in their motion to postpone the June 23^rd sentencing hearing, “The amount and type of interaction and communication between him and his counsel that has been permitted over the past two months have been absolutely insufficient to enable him to be prepared for his sentence hearing and for other proceedings related to sentencing”.

Since April 1^st, Raniere has not had any legal visits with his attorneys. And according to them, even though they “have consistently requested legal phone calls, these have been few and far between”.

Raniere himself complained that these legal phone calls do not constitute real attorney-client communications because they take place in close proximity to prison officials and can be overheard by them.

He also complained that he doesn’t get a full 30-minutes for his legal calls. That’s probably true because the guards at MDC often “start the clock” for such calls when they pick up the prisoner at his cell (The transfer process from the cell to the telephone room can take several minutes).

In any event, the bottom line is that Raniere is simply not going to consent to any sort of remote hearing for his sentencing – which means that he likely will not be sentenced until after the Eastern District of New York is back in full operation.

And when will that be, you ask?

No one really knows.

Quite probably not before Labor Day.

And, depending on how things go once Governor Cuomo re-opens New York City, maybe not for a long, long while.

Maybe Raniere is hoping he can stay at MDC long enough to get another “Christmas Bag” full of candy, cookies, and snacks.

*****

What About Clare Bronfman?

Given that Judge Garaufis quickly granted Raniere’s request for an additional delay in his sentencing, it’s almost certain that Clare Bronfman could get one too.

This is the picture used by the prosecution of Clare Bronfman to show the jury during the trial of Keith Raniere. She has been on home confinement since July 2018.

While she doesn’t have the same constraints that Raniere has faced in meeting and talking with her attorneys, the court will still need her consent to proceed with any sort of remote sentencing.

So, will Clare be submitting a similar request sometime soon in order to postpone her sentencing that is currently scheduled for June 25^th?

Or will she consent to being sentenced via videoconferencing?

On the one hand, she’s not getting any credit for the time she’s been under home confinement.

But, on the other hand, maybe she wants to spend one more summer in the City before she heads off to the federal prison for women in Danbury, CT.

Danbury Federal Women’s Prison

A brilliant trial attorney who is quite familiar with the whole NXIVM story suggested two other possibilities for Clare: Maybe she’ll go ahead with the June 25th sentencing but ask to have her “report date” delayed for several months – and/or maybe she’ll ask that she be allowed to serve her entire sentence via home confinement à la Paul Manafort.

Wouldn’t that be a kick-in-the-ass if Clare never went to prison?

Comments (42)

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Anonymous05/14/2020

What did you expect? 😂😂😂

Anonymous05/14/2020

It is more likely that New York City will go bankrupt than that Keith Raniere will get his sentence.

Anonymous05/16/2020

Raniere has essentially already been sentenced, at least for the next 13 years. LOL

Anonymous05/14/2020

Oh goody, now we get to psychoanalyze Raniere for a few more months, even though none of us are qualified to do that, and if we were, we would refuse to do it without meeting with him in person. LOL Raniere was once a bright shiny object who has been beaten into a dead horse. He once ran a relatively small organization that took advantage of mainly relatively rich people. A couple of very rich and minor entertainment types make a lot of people ogle (synonyms: leer at, stare at, gaze at, eye, make eyes at, make sheep's eyes at; informal: eye up, give someone the glad eye, give someone a/the once-over, lech after/over, undress with one's eyes, give someone the come-on; informal: gawp at, gawk at; informal: perv onover) NXIVM with rapt (synonyms: fascinated, enthralled, spellbound, captivated, riveted, gripped, mesmerized, enchanted, entranced, charmed, bewitched, transported, enraptured; thrilled, ecstatic, rapturous; informal: blissed out interest) attention. The winner in all of this is the media, they have captured you as an audience. LOL Meanwhile, Amway and other MLM scams continue to scam millions of people, many of whom (did you like that, Mr. Shadow?) cannot afford to be taken advantage of, because they are from the lower educated and socioeconomic category. The resulting debt will cause them to consume less, which will damage the economy, declare bankruptcy, which YOU will pay for, there will be damaged relationships, divorces, and worse. For example: http://www.buildingfortunesradio.com/scott-johnson-peter-mingils/scott-johnson-and-peter-mingils-interviews-krista-on–mlm-deception-amway-worldwide-dream-builders-3188 But Raniere is much more worth your time, isn't he? Scott is so glad he doesn't spend as much time here any longer with you dimwits and twits. LOL

Peaches05/14/2020

K.R Claviger at least we can count on you to give us the updates on that sneaky “cock” roach for the next year as he withers away at MDC. Most people would be begging to be transferred to a regular prison by now.

shadowstate195805/14/2020

“Wouldn’t that be a kick-in-the-ass if Clare never went to prison?” Don't laugh. It's possible. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her friends introduced The Heroes Act to stimulate the economy in the wake of the Plandemic. This 1800 page, 3 trillion dollar monstrosity has all kinds of bizarre provisions. Of relevance to the NXIVM story, The Heroes Act would require the Bureau of Prisons to release any inmate over 50 years of age unless that inmate posed a threat of violence against a particular person with the burden of proof for continued incarceration being on the BOP Under that definition, even Keith Ranirre would be eligible for release. And so would Nancy Salzman and Kathy Russell who are both in their sixties. The BOP would also have to release prisoners with asthma. “Cough, Cough, Cough” Clare Bronfman Ms. Bronfman, you have asthma. Home you go. “Cough, Cough, Cough” Allison Pimp Mack Ms. Pimp Mack, you have asthma. Home you go. “Cough, Cough, Cough” Lauren Pimp Salzman Ms. Pimp Salzman, you have asthma. Home you go. https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20200511/BILLS-116hr6800ih.pdf Starts on page 1686 1686 1 TITLE XI—PRISONS AND JAILS Forward the video for the Prison Break to 8 minutes and 10 seconds Tucker: Inside the Democrats' $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill

Anonymous05/15/2020

It's also possible that a meteorite will land on your head, Mr. Shadow. LOL

Anonymous05/14/2020

Sorry, Frank, don't agree. My best guess is he's waiting for the election. It's a Hail Mary that the Democrats get back into power and a more lenient leader will get into power with a new AG and he can appeal his sentences while avoiding extensive amounts of hard time in maximum security which is where he would probably go. Clearly, they did have some political influence, and a Democratic president will have more leeway to influence the outcome of his future. So the longer he can put off the sentencing, the less time he will have to spend in Max while appealing his convictions. It suggests that he might be planning to attempt to overturn all of his convictions, not just the few that are a tiny bit shaky.

Anonymous05/14/2020

I don't think that even a Libtard would let him go.LOL

Anonymous05/14/2020

It's a smart move. And begs the question, what are you going to do if he appeals and gets the entire series of convictions overturned? You wanted to see if there was a new direction to take Frank Report. Clearly, this development suggests a whole new chapter. Also, it still keeps those who are afraid of him in a perpetual state of fear. I was initially thinking the delays occurred because authorities were trying to get him to roll over on the underlings. Including those that were born of powerful families. Now I'm wondering how deep this really goes? Is there yet a deeper level?

Anonymous05/15/2020

It's a smart move only because he has a right to legal advice before sentencing. I doubt the convictions will be overturned on appeal. At worst, another trial will be ordered, and what could be interesting about that is Raniere may decide to put on a defense, although anyone who shows up would probably either be arrested or crucified on the stand under cross examination. However, any retrial would have the same guilty result, because the evidence was so overwhelming, which is why a new trial will probably never happen. LOL

Anonymous05/15/2020

On what basis can he get the appeals overturned? He was convicted in a mere three hours, well before the Coronavirus even came into the picture. Yeah, it’s been used as the BS excuse for everything now, but you can’t go back in time and say it affected his trial in any way whatsoever.

Jonathan McCrumble05/15/2020

I think the more interesting story is Frank Parlato himself. 10 years of lawsuits, federal indictments (against both NXIVM members and himself) and bad blood could have all been avoided if he simply honored Keith's original request to return the $1 million wire transfer (from Clare) back in 2008. It's ironic because Frank has NEVER had use of this money. Frank hasn't benefited one penny from that $1 million dollar wire transfer from Clare, since it still sits in an escrow account to this day. Thus, even though Frank has still not seen a penny of this money himself, he still risked 10 years worth of lawsuits and indictments by not returning this money to Keith and Clare Bear. That's pure ego at work, not business intelligence. His own ego ruined 10 years of his life. Frank's ego just wouldn't let him return that money and avoid 10 years worth of hassles, lawsuits and indictments. Frank should explain why he simply didn't give that money back to Keith —– since he never got to benefit from it anyway. That would make an interesting article. But Frank is quite lazy these days, opting to let his blog slide into the shitter rather than write interesting articles. Fuck you, Frank. Kiss my ass, bro. Please consider Seppuku as a way to reclaim your honor. Have a nice day. 🙂

Frank Parlato05/15/2020

Bangkok, this comment deserves a special reply. Look for it bro.

Ice-nine

AnonyMaker05/15/2020

I'd still suggest taking into consideration that Raniere has the personality of a dysfunctional gambler – demonstrated by his literally having wagered with, and lost, large amounts of his followers' money in multiple commodities trading debacles, as well as the infamous land deals. Typically, he may be unable to come to terms with his loss, and hoping against hope that yet another roll of the dice will somehow result in a turnaround of his luck. There certainly may be other things at work as well, or instead, such as at this point, particularly given COVID-19 infections, not wanting to trade the devil he knows – the MDC – for one he doesn't. I don't know how things are working out, but I would expect that a facility that mostly holds prisoners who have not yet had verdicts rendered and thus could even be found innocent, might be more of a priority for health resources than those full of convicts. Also, one thing that I've noticed in watching determined and litigious cult groups, is that you can never expect that anything is settled or final until it is really fully concluded – it's in their nature to twist and turn, and use their legal resources to find unexpected loopholes and outs. And thanks once more for the excellent updates, background information and expert perspectives.

K.R. Claviger05/15/2020

I think Raniere is one of those gamblers who can not stand to win. So, no matter how much he might have been up in a gambling session, he would keep gambling until he lost. The same is true on business deals like the L.A. real estate venture. No matter how much he was going to make on that deal, he had to blow it up so he could lose. When it comes to COVID-19, the inmates at MDC are not being treated any better than inmates in other federal prisons. Per the filings in a current federal lawsuit, only a handful of inmates at MDC have been tested (MDC claims it doesn't have enough test kits – and that it's too dangerous to take inmates out for off-site testing). I agree with you in terms of how cults handle litigation. As long as he had the Bronfman sisters' money backing him, Raniere never accepted any sort of loss in a lawsuit (He once appealed the denial of a Preliminary Injunction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court).

Anonymous05/15/2020

I would love to see an article by Frank that described what the second trial would be like if Keith Raniere won an appeal and had his convictions overturned. After all, Mr. Raniere learns as he goes, and he now would know the opposition's playbook. And he would have nothing to lose so, he would be able to ask many awkward questions of those who presently occupy the moral high ground. I'm not cheerleading for him, I just think it would be an interesting use of speculation. And how many other secrets would be revealed?

Frank Parlato05/16/2020

If there were a second trial, I think there would be a new indictment and many more charges. I will try to delve into this later.

NiceGuy05/16/2020

Good read! I believe Vanguard is so delusional at this point he is hoping to get Covid-19 and be brought to a regular hospital. Vanguard knows he is looking at a 15 year stretch in prison; basically as we have discussed a death sentence. The Covid-19 pandemic pretty much guarantees Vanguard will die in prison. Vanguard is hoping for a hail Mary pass of some kind.

Anonymous05/16/2020

Most people don't die from the Wuhan China coronavirus, NiceGuy 666. Raniere has much larger problems awaiting him in prison, such as Bubba. LOL

Anonymous05/17/2020

Hey, NiceGuy666, you sure would love Bubba. Bubba Johnson is my uncle and he says I am the best French Kisser ever! LOL

Frank Parlato05/18/2020

I believe this is a person pretending to be Scott Johnson.

Anonymous05/16/2020

One would think Raniere would want to get to a better facility as quickly as possible. Then again, he's not actually that bright.