'The biggest mistake and regret of my life': Smallville actress Allison Mack writes groveling apology and calls NXIVM leader Keith Raniere a 'twisted man' ahead of sentencing for her role in the sex cult
Smallville actress Allison Mack wrote a letter to the courts apologizing for her role in the NXIVM sex cult and said following leader Keith Raniere was the biggest regret of her life.
The 38-year-old actress, who pleaded guilty in 2019, will be sentenced on June 30 for her role as a 'slave master' in the upstate New York cult that saw women recruited to be Raniere's sex slaves and then branded with his initials.
Mack wrote an apology letter and has asked the courts to show leniency during sentencing after she cooperated with prosecutors by providing an audio tape of NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere talking about branding his recruits that helped convict him.
Smallville actress Allison Mack (pictured in April 2019) wrote a letter to the courts apologizing for her role in the NXIVM sex cult and said she regretted following leader Keith Raniere
Smallville actress Allison Mack will be sentenced on June 30 for her role as a 'slave master' in the NXIVM cult that saw women recruited to be Keith Raniere's (pictured) sex slaves and then branded with his initials
'It is now of paramount importance for me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry,' Mack began her letter to the courts.
'I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had,' she continued. 'I believed, whole-heartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him.'
'This was the biggest mistake and regret of my life,' Mack added.
In a memo Mack's attorneys asked U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis that the actress serve no jail time because she has recognized that she has 'committed grievous wrongs and that she has earned her punishment,' the Hollywood Reporter reported.
The memo also makes clear that Mack has 'publicly denounced Raniere (and her own prior association with Raniere) in the strongest possible terms.'
Allison Mack arrived at court in April 2018; she will be sentenced this month
'That is made clear by Ms. Mack's plea allocution, her decision to cooperate completely and fully with the government, and is further underscored in her letter to this Court as well as her efforts to demonstrate her remorse to the public generally and more specifically to those she harmed,' the memo continued.
'There is thus no need to impose an additional sentence of incarceration on Ms. Mack to achieve specific deterrence,' it said.
In her letter Mack goes on to apologize to the victims she and Raneire lured into the sex cult, calling her former master a 'twisted man.'
'I am sorry to those of you that I brought into NXIVM,' Mack wrote.
'I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man. I am sorry that I encouraged you to use your resources to participate in something that was ultimately so ugly. I do not take lightly the responsibility I have in the lives of those I love and I feel a heavy weight of guilt for having misused your trust, leading you down a negative path.'
Prosecutors revealed in pre-sentencing memo on Monday that Mack had given them a tape that showed her and Raniere speaking about branding women with his initials. Pictured above is one of the brandings performed on a victim
A transcript of the tape, which was included in the court filing, showed Raniere and Mack discussing the branding ceremony
In a pre-sentencing memo last week, federal prosecutors asked the judge to hand down a reduced sentence given Mack provided the tape that helped bolster their case against Raniere.
A transcript of the tape, which was included in the court filing, showed Raniere and Mack discussing the branding ceremony.
'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? I don't know if that, that's a feeling of submission, you know,' Raniere asked.
He also suggested filming the branding to be used as 'collateral' in a bid to stop women leaving the cult.
Raniere went on to describe how the woman should be in a 'vulnerable position' for the branding.
'Laying on the back, legs slightly, or legs spread straight like, like feet, feet being held to the side of the table, hands probably above the head being held, almost like being tied down, like sacrificial, whatever,' he said.
'The person should ask to be branded. Should say, please brand me it would be an honor, or something like that. An honor 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.'
Raniere, who was sentenced last October to 120 years in prison, had long maintained he did not have any involvement in the branding ritual.
Prosecutors repeatedly referenced the tape during his trial.
They noted in the pre-sentencing memo that prosecutors had not been in possession of the tape prior to the actress cooperating.
Mack's cooperation with prosecutors was not previously announced.
'The information and materials Mack provided substantially assisted the government in its prosecution of this case.... the recorded conversation between Mack and Raniere was introduced at Raniere's trial and provided critical evidence,' the memo said.
'Although Mack could have provided even more substantial assistance had she made the decision to cooperate earlier, Mack provided significant, detailed and highly corroborated information which assisted the government in its prosecution.
'While the government did not call Mack to testify at any trial or hearing, she met with the government numerous times at the government's request in order to prepare for potential trial testimony and was available to testify at Raniere's trial if requested to do so.'
Five NXIVM members have charged alongside Raniere in relation to the sex cult.
Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman, who is accused of using her family fortune to bankroll the NXIVM cult, was sentenced last September to seven years in prison.
Mack, the group's bookkeeper Kathy Russell, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren Salzman were also charged.
All five women initially tried to fight the charges but eventually agreed to plead guilty as part of deals with prosecutors.
Raniere, who was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018 following an investigation into his group, is the only one to have faced trial.
He was found guilty last year on all counts of sex-trafficking and coercing women into sex for turning his female devotees into his sex slaves through such means as shame, punishment and nude blackmail photos.
Raniere's six-week trial featured testimony from several women who said Raniere victimized them, including Lauren Salzman, who was the only one who was charged to testify against him.
Clare Bronfman, the group's bookkeeper Kathy Russell, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren Salzman were also charged (Pictured clockwise)
He started NXIVM in the 1990s in Albany, New York as a purported self-improvement group that then expanded across the country.
The group first became known for its 'Executive Success Program' courses, which purported to give students the ability to achieve their goals in life by overcoming mental blocks.
Prosecutors allege that Raniere started a secret branch, known as the DOS, in about 2015 that was just for women.
Prosecutors say the secret society was comprised of brainwashed female 'slaves' who were blackmailed into have sex with him, follow dangerously restrictive diets and be branded with his initials.
They were told that the material would be released if they disobeyed orders or tried to leave, according to a former member and other witnesses.
According to testimony, Raniere's 'slaves' were forced to give up 'collateral' - nude photos and other material - to keep them in line.
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