A "Smallville" actress accused of recruiting women into a sadistic sex cult in upstate New York pleaded guilty Monday to racketeering and conspiracy charges.
Allison Mack was charged with duping women into joining NXIVM by telling them it was a self-help group. The Albany-based operation was founded by Keith Raniere, who is also accused of possessing child pornography.
A contrite-sounding Mack admitted Monday that she was "wrong."
"This past year has been one of introspection and self-examination," she said. "It's been a year of looking at what I've done the past four years.
"Through it all, I believed that Raniere's intention was to help people," she continued. "I was wrong."
Prosecutors said that within NXIVM was a secret society known as "Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions," or "The Vow." The group was filled with "slaves" and "masters" and Raniere was at the top. To climb the ladder and become a master, slaves had to recruit slaves of their own, according to prosecutors. Mack, authorities said, was a top-level master.
Many of the slaves were branded with a symbol that incorporated Raniere's initials. Mack was charged with instructing her "slaves" to have sex with Raniere in exchange for financial benefits for the actress.
Mack will face a maximum of 20 years in prison when she's sentenced on Sept. 11.
The plea comes the same day jury selection begins in Brooklyn Federal Court. The trial is scheduled for later this month. Raniere is a defendant in the case. A federal judge has ruled that the jury hearing evidence against members of the alleged sex cult will be anonymous and "semi-sequestered."
Two weeks ago, another woman implicated in the NXIVM sex trafficking case pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. Lauren Salzman, who entered the plea, is the daughter of Nancy Salzman, 64, co-founder of an alleged sex-ring associated with NXIVM.
In March, Nancy Salzman pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy for her role in the operation. The mother, who was known to NXIVM underlings as the "Prefect," is facing 33 to 41 months in prison at her July 10 sentencing. Prosecutors charge that she developed a women's empowerment program called "Explorations of Meaning" that was used to manipulate cult members.
Others who've been indicted in the case include Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman and the cult's longtime bookkeeper Kathy Russell.
