Allison Mack, former Smallville actress and “slave master” of sex cult NXIVM, pleaded guilty to racketeering in April 2019 and is currently awaiting sentencing. In the meantime, some interesting tidbits have come to light in court memos.
Variety reports that while US District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis prepares to hand down Mack’s sentence on June 30, federal prosecutors have called for Mack to have a reduced sentence on the basis that she provided evidence that helped them convict NXIVM’s founder Keith Raniere.
He was convicted in June 2019 of federal crimes including sex trafficking of children, conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labour, and sentenced to a whopping 120 years in prison. As Variety points out, Allison Mack didn’t testify at Raniere’s trial, nor was her cooperation made public. But now, in a sentencing memo, federal prosecutors are detailing her involvement.
According to the Variety report, Mack provided an audio recording in which Keith Raniere discussed the “branding” of slaves within NXIVM, which saw women cauterized with his initials near their genitals. Raniere had long denied any knowledge of branding rituals — and Mack had said they were her idea, but per Variety, Mack had the proof that he was complicit.
The outlet appears to have heard the tape, with the Variety report stating that Raniere said in the recording: “Do you think the person who’s being branded should be completely nude and sort of held to the table like a, sort of almost like a sacrifice?”
Variety also claims that Raniere suggested filming the ritual as a form of “collateral” to keep the person from leaving NXIVM. (Anyone who has watched doco The Vow or Seduced will know that the cult’s leaders, including Allison Mack herself, were big on obtaining this sort of content from members in order to force them to stay.)
Raniere also allegedly said: “And the person should ask to be branded. Should say, please brand me it would be an honour, or something like that. An honour I want to wear for the rest of my life, I don’t know… And they should probably say that before they’re held down, so it doesn’t seem like they are being coerced.”
According to the court memo, federal prosecutors acknowledge that Allison Mack’s actions were of a serious nature, saying: “The government recognises the seriousness of the offense conduct in this case which… caused extraordinary harm and pain to the victims in this case.”
They also indicated that Allison Mack could have been of more help had she cooperated earlier, but conceded that: “Mack provided significant, detailed and highly corroborated information which assisted the government in its prosecution.”
Mack’s own lawyers will present their own memo before sentencing takes place on June 30.
