By Joe O’Hara
[This is Part 1 of a series of articles that I will be writing about the U.S. v. Parlato Et Al case. Along the way, I will detail what a sham this case is – and how it was orchestrated by two inner circle members of the NXIVM criminal enterprise, Clare and Sara Bronfman, and a conman named Shmuel Shmueli – all three of whom just happened to be represented by the same attorney, William F. Savino. I will also explain how many of the slimy tactics that were used to indict Frank have become the norm in the everyday operations of the U.S. criminal justice system. Readers are encouraged to ask questions – which I will endeavor to answer on a timely basis].
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Part 1
On the very day that “The Lost Women of Nxivm” was set to air on Investigation Discovery, Frank Parlato’s hometown newspaper, The Buffalo News, ran an intriguing story about him.
MK10’s Lost Women of NXIVM.
At the outset of the story, the reporter noted that “It would be easy for people to think there are two Frank Parlatos”. One who was a crusading investigative reporter – and another who was a fraudster.
The first characterization is based on the fact that Frank was the key figure in bringing about a federal investigation of the NXIVM cult – and taking down its leadership (Keith Raniere, the leader of NXIVM, has been found guilty on seven felony counts – and all five of his co-defendants have pleaded guilty to various felonies).
MK10’s portrait of Frank Parlato
The second characterization is based on the fact that Frank is still facing federal charges himself – and is scheduled to go to trial next May.
While The Buffalo News story was generally very accurate in delineating the critical role that Frank played in taking down Raniere and his sycophantic followers, space considerations did not permit them to do a very thorough job in explaining the pending charges against Frank – and how and why those charges came about in the first place.
In particular, the story did not explain that the pending charges against Frank were the direct result of an intensive lobbying campaign with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York by Clare and Sara Bronfman and one of their numerous attorneys, William F. Savino.
Wee Willie Savino and Clare Bronfman.
Nor did it make note of the fact that at the time the Bronfman sisters filed a criminal complaint against Frank, they had already initiated a civil lawsuit against him (Frank subsequently filed counterclaims in that lawsuit – which is also still pending). It is not known whether the Bronfmans and their attorney disclosed that fact to the feds.
Although it did note that the Bronfman-related criminal charges against Frank have been dismissed, The Buffalo News story did not mention that the reason for that dismissal was that Frank provided conclusive proof that Clare Bronfman had perjured herself in her testimony to the Grand Jury that indicted him (I’ll be detailing that perjury in a later post – and raising questions as to why Clare was not charged with that crime).
MK10ART’s wonderful painting of Clare Bronfman who will be sentenced on Valentine’s Day in 2020.
Finally, the story also did not explain why the local FBI office spent five years investigating Frank and his various businesses – and only came up with what amounts to insinuations of criminal activity rather than documented evidence of it.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I intend to explore – and explain – many important details of Frank’s pending criminal case.
In doing so, I will also explain why Frank is a prime example of an individual who is being run over by a criminal justice system that is anything but just.
But, before I start down that road, let me review some of the details in The Buffalo News story so that Frank Report readers can see how the author of that story assesses Frank’s role in blowing up the NXIVM cult.
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Numerous Media Outlets Acknowledge Frank Played a Key Role in Taking Down NXIVM
In addition to acknowledging that Frank was the moving force behind “The Lost Women of NXIVM” documentary, the story also notes that several other media outlets have acknowledged his critical role in exposing what was going on inside the cult.
“Investigation Discovery is not the first media outlet to credit Parlato for his role in exposing Nxivm. In covering the allegations, which include allegations that women were branded with a cauterizing device, the New York Times, New York Post and others have also credited Parlato”.
The “and others” that were cited in the newspaper story includes, but is not limited to, the following media outlets:
Albany Times Union
Al Bawaba News
C21 Media
CBS News
Cinema Blend
Courier-Mail
Daily Mail (England)
Deadline
Forbes
Fox News
Hollywood Life
Irish Central (Ireland)
Miami New Times
National Post (Canada)
New York Daily News
Oxygen
People
Radar Online
Real Screen
Rolling Stone
Spectrum News
Sputnik (Russia)
The Forward
The Futon Clinic
The New Zealand Herald
The Sun (England)
The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
The Wrap
Toronto Star
Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Vice
Washington Post
Your Tango
MSN News
Mondo Fox (Italy)
Tele Star (France)
Midia News (Brazil)
Lux (Portugal)
1 News (Brazil)
Men’s Health
La Razon -El Salvador)
Bahia (Bosnia)
Stern (Germany)
Tocana (Japan)
Pulse (Ghana)
People Magazine Espanol (Mexico)
Page Six
Blick (Chile)
News.com (Australia)
TMZ
Daily Caller
Blasting News (Switzerland)
Vanity Fair Espanol (Mexico)
De Telegraph (Netherlands)
Le Republica (Peru)
E! News
Paris Match (France)
Vanitatis El Confidential (Spain)
The Times of London
Key West Citizen
The Epoch Times
Milenio (Mexico)
Proceso {Mexico)
Yahoo Entertainment
El Universal (Mexico)
Telemundo {Mexico}
Cosmopolitan
Newsweek
E! So; De Mexico
And about 300 other publications.
In fact, about the only people who have not fully acknowledged the key role that Frank played in taking down the NXIVM cult are the people who have tried to aggrandize their own role in that achievement.
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Frank Refuses to Play the “Plea Deal” Game
Frank has adamantly maintained his innocence – and has already rejected various plea deals that have been offered by federal prosecutors.
“I have no intention of agreeing to any deal that requires me to admit to any wrongdoing because I have not done anything wrong”, Frank told me.
That statement alone makes this an unusual case because 97% of federal criminal cases end up with a plea deal (I’ll be explaining why that is so in a later post). And in every one of those cases, the accused has to admit to committing a criminal act – even if they didn’t do so.
But Frank is refusing to play the “plea deal” game – which means that the federal prosecutors are going to have to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Frank knowingly and intentionally committed the criminal acts with which he’s been charged (I’ll be getting into the details of those charges in my next post).
For Frank, the decision to proceed to trial was very simple.
“I did not do anything wrong – and I’m not going to say that I did just to avoid going to trial”, Frank said. “I trust that 12 impartial jurors will see that these remaining charges against me were trumped up just to make it look like I’m a bad guy”.
The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York may now be in a quandary.
They don’t like taking cases to trial – especially ones that look like sure losers.
But Frank won’t play along like most defendants – and take a deal in order to avoid the expense and uncertainty of a trial.
That’s the problem when you indict an innocent person who isn’t afraid of how 12 impartial jurors will assess the evidence that is presented to them.
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