Editor’s Note: This is a ticklish type of story to publish. After due deliberation, I chose to publish it because I think it not only might be true but it is also of interest to our readers. Our primary source would be in a likely position to know. However, misinformation is one of the hallmarks of federal prisons.
According to several sources, including one at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center [MDC], Keith Alan Raniere [Prisoner #57005-177] has been assigned to the United States Penitentiary, Tucson (USP Tucson) in Arizona.
If true, it will likely be the safest prison he could be assigned since USP Tucson has a high percentage of sex offenders and he will not be singled out as a “CHOMO,” [child molester] as he would in a typical maximum security prison.
If Raniere is assigned to USP Tuscon,he will be in a safe environment without being in protective custody, which is essentially solitary confinement.
About 70-80 percent of prisoners at USP Tucson are sex offenders, Ralph Miller, a retired Bureau of Prisons employee who specialized in sex offender designations in the Designation and Sentence Computation Center, told the Detroit News in 2018.
According to Miller, USP Tucson is the nation’s only federal facility classified as high security that also has a sex offender management program.
Among other charges, Raniere was convicted of sex trafficking an adult woman, and of racketeering, of which predicate acts include possession of child pornography and exploitation of a minor, a 15-year-old Mexican girl, identified by her first name only, Camila.
Though not normally the kind of company he might choose outside of prison, being surrounded by sex offenders may be welcome for Raniere since in most maximum-security prisons, sex offenders, especially those whose crimes involve children, are targeted by other prisoners for violence and abuse because they are considered to be the lowest and most detested inmate among the hierarchy of prisoners.
Supporters of Raniere should not breathe easy yet, since the Bureau Of Prisons typically does not confirm or announce assignments in advance of a transfer for security reasons. Thus, Raniere may be assigned elsewhere.
Last month, Raniere reached out to this writer to announce he feared being killed in prison. Frank Report published audio tapes of Raniere speaking from prison warning he would likely be killed in a maximum-security prison. More than 50 media outlets reported the story, including the New York Post, The Daily Mail and the SUN.
When Will Raniere Be Transferred?
With COVID lockdowns at MDC, with courts suspending proceedings because of the pandemic, and with restitution hearings not yet scheduled, it is unclear when Raniere will be transferred. Raniere has a right to be present at his restitution hearings where determinations are made as to which victims get how much of Raniere’s considerable assets; no restitution hearings have been scheduled and are unlikely to be scheduled prior to February.
Raniere inherited some $8 million from the estate of Pamela Cafritz one of his girlfriends. The estate assets have been frozen pending resolution of restitution and other matters. It seems likely Raniere will remain at MDC to be close to the Brooklyn court and his New York City attorneys until restitution is settled by the sentencing judge, which might occur by mid-February.
Tucson Prison
If Raniere is assigned to USP Tucson, he may find it commodious. The 584,000-square-foot facility is situated on a 640-acre property, which is almost the same acreage as the Silver Bay campus in the Adirondacks where Raniere held Vanguard Week, a 10-day Nxivm retreat to celebrate his birthday, which is August 26. Raniere is 60 and has been unable to attend Vanguard Week since 2017 on account of being incarcerated.
USP Tucson is a large facility surrounded by desert.
USP Tucson holds around 1,500 inmates.
Prison rules require Raniere to make his bed daily, keep his cell clean and not display any sexually provocative photos on his locker or cabinet, according to the Tuscon penitentiary handbook, as reported in the Detroit News.
Here are a few photos found online of the facility.
Raniere will be required to wake up at 6 a.m. for meals and work. The uniform is normally khaki pants and a khaki shirt.
Raniere can communicate with friends via the prison’s email system, one that does not allow attachments. He will also get a phone access code to make phone calls. It is unknown if the BOP will prohibit contact with his Nxivm followers.
He may also avail himself of correspondence classes and continuing education, according to the prison handbook.
Since USP Tucson offers a Sex Offender Management Program (SOMP), Raniere may be required or incentivized to attend the treatment program, though Raniere vehemently protests his innocence. His supporters say Raniere will not admit to being a sex offender even if the program requires it.
High Profile Prisoners at Tucson
Brian David Mitchell, a former street preacher and pedophile who was convicted in 2010 of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart.
Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician, convicted on federal charges relating to the possession of thousands of child pornography images and who was accused by girls and women of inappropriately touching them when examining them.
While Raniere had to endure the victim impact statements of 12 women and two men at his sentencing, Nassar sat for days at his sentencing while 150 girls and women made victims statements.
Edward Oedewaldtwas arrested during the largest child pornography prosecution in US history.
Louis Eppolito a former NYPD detective who was convicted in 2006 of carrying out murders and sharing law enforcement intelligence disclosing the identities of witnesses for the Gambino Crime Family. {a reader pointed out that Eppolito died last November.]
Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a former US Congressman from California, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from company owners in return for awarding them contracts to produce military equipment. [Editor’s note: Cunningham has reportedly been released from prison.]
Jaan Laaman, who carried out robberies and bombings at corporate and government facilities in the 1970s and early 1980s and who has a following of supporters who consider him a political prisoner.
Ross Ulbricht, who is serving two life sentences plus 40 years at USP Tucson with no possibility of parole after he was convicted in 2015 for operating the Silk Road marketplace, which was an online black market known for selling illegal drugs.
In other news…
Clare Bronfman Status Updated by BOP
Clare Bronfman
As noted by one of our readers, Clare Bronfman’s status has been updated by the BOP – and now reads as follows
CLARE BRONFMAN
Register Number: 91010-053
Age: 41
Race: White
Sex: Female
Located at: Brooklyn MDC
Release Date: 06/29/2026
Her projected “Release Date” appears to be correct: i.e., it’s 85% of her 81-month sentence. She may also qualify for a halfway house some six months before her release, which means she might be outside prison walls by January 2026. She is awaiting a permanent prison assignment, which may be the MDC.
Lauren Arizona Attorney Seeks to Appear in Brooklyn
Lauren Salzman
Lauren Salzman’s Arizona lawyer, Andrea S. Tazioli, has made a motion seeking permission to appear in Brooklyn federal court to represent her.
Tazioli is not a member of the New York bar and needs special permission to appear. This suggests sentencing for Salzman, who was convicted of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, may be coming soon.
Salzman was the government’s only cooperating witness who testified at the trial. She faces a maximum of 40 years. Her cross-examination was famously stopped by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis after she started crying, prompting Raniere’s attorneys to make a motion for a mistrial, which was denied by the judge.
The suspension of her cross-examination will undoubtedly be a major issue raised on appeal.
