NEW YORK — Nancy Salzman, a co-founder of the upstate New York "self-help" group NXIVM, was “fooled, controlled” and “humiliated” by sex cult leader Keith Raniere, her lawyers argued Tuesday, asking she receive no jail time.
Salzman, who once was Raniere’s right-hand woman, made a final plea to Judge Nicholas Garaufis for leniency in a Brooklyn Federal Court filing ahead of her sentencing on Wednesday.
“Nancy Salzman is a 66-year-old woman who for the most of the past 20 years has been fooled, controlled, humiliated and ultimately led to engage in criminal conduct by an egotistical, self-important sex fiend,” her lawyers wrote.
Prosecutors with the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office, however, asked that Salzman serve between 33 months and 41 months in federal prison.
“The defendant exalted Raniere’s teachings and ideology and demanded absolute commitment and deference to Raniere,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar. “For years, Nancy Salzman attempted to investigate and intimidate perceived critics and enemies of Raniere.”
Salzman pleaded guilty in 2019 to committing identity theft by changing user names and passwords of perceived NXIVM enemies and to editing video recordings before surrendering them to authorities.
Still, some stuck by Salzman and penned letters singing her praises, though the letters were entirely redacted. Her lawyers shared parts of them.
“You will never find a more noble human with a more pure intent than Nancy,” wrote one supporter. “The world would be a far worse place without Nancy in it.”
“Nancy is absolutely one of the most caring and hard-working people I’ve ever met,” said another.
Some victims accused Salzman of supporting Raniere in his quest to sexually abuse underage girls, prosecutors said.
One Raniere victim, who he began to have sex with when she was 15, said that Salzman promoted the perverted guru’s belief that “girls could be ready for sex as soon as they are physically capable to conceive.”
Raniere was convicted of sex trafficking and sentenced to 120 years in prison. His underlings, including Nancy’s daughter, Lauren Salzman, pleaded guilty.
Raniere was sentenced in 2020 to 120 years in prison. Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman, who bankrolled NXIVM with her fortune, received 81 months in prison for helping keep undocumented immigrants in the U.S. illegally, among other crimes.
Raniere sexually abused and mentally manipulated a harem of women who joined his secret sex cult “DOS” within NXIVM.
He had the women brand their pubic region with his initials and forced them to lose weight. The women within DOS were known as “slaves” and had to report to “masters.”
“Smallville” actress Allison Mack was slapped with three years in prison for her role duping women into joining the sick secret sorority.
Salzman has maintained that she was not aware of the existence of DOS.
Known as “Prefect” by other members of NXIVM, Salzman helped found the Albany-based “self-help” organization with Raniere.
Salzman claimed in the court papers Tuesday that she also was a victim of Raniere, and that he forced her to diet and that she “was never thin enough” for Raniere.
