NEW YORK _ Actress and accused sex cult recruiter Allison Mack is out on $5 million bail and heading to California, where she can comfortably consider possible plea deals from federal prosecutors who say they're all ears if she wants to negotiate her way out of the bizarre case.
The "Smallville" actress charged with sex trafficking will be on house arrest at her parents' Los Alamitos, Calif., residence, according to her successful Tuesday bail application in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Mack, 35, left the courthouse in the late afternoon, flanked by her attorneys to get through a throng of photographers and reporters. She and her lawyers ignored shouted questions as they got into a black Toyota Highlander that was waiting for them.
Prosecutors say Mack was a "top member" in Keith Raniere's NXIVM secret society that branded women "slaves" and fed the 57-year-old alleged leader's appetite for sex.
Mack, in a khaki prison uniform and blue canvas sneakers, stared ahead impassively in court as lawyers explained her bail bid's strict terms.
Magistrate Viktor Pohorelsky made a point of telling her "basically, you should avoid contact with anybody you know associated in any way with NXIVM."
Mack was planning to leave for California as soon as possible, lawyer Sean Buckley told Pohorelsky.
Her mother, Melinda, 66, signed the bond that puts up properties and a retirement account as collateral. She left court without comment on the charges against her daughter. Mack's father, Jonathan, will also be signing the bond in California.
There's a lot of hype around Mack's case. But it could be short-lived: As soon as the case began last week, prosecutors said they were open to a speedy resolution.
"We also would entertain any initial plea negotiations that the defendant would like to have," Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Kim Penza said at Mack's Friday arraignment, according to transcripts.
Penza said she would also start turning over evidence ahead of a May 3 court date.
Mack's lawyer, Buckley, said Friday that he didn't have a problem pausing the trial clock.
"We have no objection, your Honor," he told Magistrate Cheryl Pollak, the judge who handled the arraignment.
Pollak told Mack it's tough for lawyers to talk deals and get ready for a trial. She asked Mack if she agreed to pausing the trial clock "while these plea discussions go forward?"
"Yes," Mack said.
Pollak ended up checking off a standard court form saying the parties "are engaged in plea negotiations, which they believe are likely to result in a disposition of this case without a trial."
After court Friday, Mack's lawyers didn't answer press questions, including whether she would plead out.
Raniere's lawyers have said they'll fight the charges at trial.
Mack, who played Clark Kent pal Chloe Sullivan on the CW show, allegedly tried recruiting Emma Watson and Kelly Clarkson via social media, the New York Daily News reported Monday.
Both Mack and Raniere face up to life in prison if convicted.
One observer thinks Mack will find a way out.
Frank Parlato, a former NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower, was the first to write about the group on his website Artvoice, and he's written extensively about it ever since. He told the Daily News on Tuesday that from where he stood, it looked like Mack's strict rules to stay away from the rest of the group meant she would go for a deal.
"Absence does not make the heart grow fonder," Parlato said. "It makes the mind grow clearer."
