Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman is jailed for almost seven years and ordered to pay $500,000 fine for bankrolling Keith Raniere's NXIVM sex cult

Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman, who is accused of using her family fortune to bankroll the NXIVM cult, has been sentenced to almost seven years in prison and ordered to pay a $500,000 fine for her role in the branded sex slave case.  

Bronfman, the daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., was sentenced to a total of 81 months on Wednesday at the US District Court in Brooklyn. 

The 41-year-old is the first member of the notorious NXIVM group, led by disgraced founder Keith Raniere, to be sentenced. 

Bronfman pleaded guilty last year to charges she committed credit card fraud on behalf of Raniere and to knowingly harboring a Mexican woman brought to the US on a fake work visa in order to obtain that woman's labor for herself. 

In addition to prison time, Bronfman will also pay a $500,000 fine and $96,605 in restitution to the Mexican woman she recruited.  

Raniere, the disgraced leader of the self-improvement group in upstate New York, was convicted last year of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his initials. 

His adherents included Bronfman, actress Allison Mack of TV's Smallville; and a daughter of TV star Catherine Oxenberg of Dynasty fame.  

Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman, who is accused of using her family fortune to bankroll the NXIVM cult, was sentenced to 81 months in prison on Wednesday in a Brooklyn court

Bronfman arrived at court wearing a mask on Wednesday ahead of her sentencing hearing. Bronfman's lawyers had asked a judge to give her three years' probation instead of prison time

Bronfman's lawyers had asked a judge to give her three years' probation instead of prison time but prosecutors had argued she deserved at least five years behind bars. 

Bronfman watched on silently on Wednesday as nine women gave victim impact statements before her sentence was handed down and described how their lives had been destroyed by her and NXIVM.  

One former member had said she watched Bronfman mentally descend over the years into a 'dangerous megalomaniac'.

Another slammed her as a predator, saying: 'You should feel shame, self loathing... You should understand there are lives you destroyed'.

'I pray that you will take the claws of Keith Raniere out of you, and you will learn who Clare Bronfman really is.' 

Prosecutors say Bronfman recruited individuals into NXIVM-affiliated organizations and then sought to obtain visas or other immigration status for them based on false promises. 

In regards to Jane Doe 12, Bronfman submitted documents to secure a work visa that would see the Mexican woman paid $3,600 per month. Prosecutors say, however, that Bronfman only paid the woman about $4,000 over a year-long period for her work.

In a letter to the court just last month, Bronfman wrote that she 'never meant to hurt anyone, however I have and for this I am deeply sorry'. 

Still, she said that she couldn't disavow Raniere, who is due to be sentenced next month, because 'NXIVM and Keith greatly changed my life for the better'.

During Raniere's trial last year, prosecutors told jurors that NXIVM operated like a cult. 

To honor Raniere, the group formed a secret sorority called DOS that was comprised of brainwashed female 'slaves' who were branded with his initials and forced to have sex with him, prosecutors said. 

Bronfman denied being a member of the secret women's sorority but prosecutors argued that Raniere and NXIVM wouldn't have been so powerful without her financial support.   

She has long been affiliated with NXIVM and gave away tens of million of dollars to bankroll Raniere and his program of intense self-improvement classes. 

She also paid for lawyers to defend the group against lawsuits brought by its critics. 

Keith Raniere, the disgraced leader of the self-improvement group in upstate New York, was convicted last year of turning women into sex slaves who were branded with his initials 

Prosecutors say the secret society was comprised of brainwashed female 'slaves' who were branded with his initials and forced to have sex with him

Bronfman, who is the daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., is the first to be sentenced in the NXIVM case.

She pleaded guilty in April last year to charges of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit identity theft.

Prosecutors say she made false statements to obtain a visa for a young Mexican woman to come to the US after being recruited to work for NXIVM. She also admitted to committing credit card fraud on behalf of Raniere.

Bronfman joined NXIVM in 2003 after hearing about the group from her sister Sara and father Edgar Bronfman, who was the former chairman of the Seagram company.

Bronfman, who is the daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., is the first to be sentenced in the NXIVM case. She is pictured in 2018 leaving court 

As she became more involved in the group, she quit her professional equestrian career to move to NXIVM's headquarters in upstate New York. 

Bronfman and her sister Sara are said to have helped woo Mack when she considered joining NXIVM. Sara has not been charged or accused of any wrongdoing.  

Bronfman gave away tens of millions of dollars to bankroll Raniere and his program of intense self-improvement classes. She also used her wealth to hire lawyers, private investigators and public relations firms to discredit critics of NXIVM.

Prosecutors said Bronfman spent more than $100million funding NXIVM's legal battles. She also gave Raniere $67million to invest in the commodities market, which he never repaid, prosecutors said. 

Bronfman has denied any involvement in the sex slave arm of the cult saying she was 'never told about anything sexual or damaging of any nature'. Other members have also previously written to the judge backing up her claims that she was not involved in DOS. 

In a letter to the judge just last month, Bronfman refused to denounce her loyalty to Raniere, saying he 'changed my life'.

'Many people, including most of my own family, believe I should disavow Keith and NXIVM, and that I have not is hard for them to understand and accept,' Bronfman wrote in the letter dated August 28.

'However, for me, NXIVM and Keith greatly changed my life for the better. 

Smallville actress Allison Mack, the group's bookkeeper Kathy Russell, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren Salzman were also charged (Pictured clockwise)

THE NXIVM MEMBERS CHARGED IN SEX CULT CASE 

 Clare Bronfman

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit identity theft

Plea: Guilty (plea deal)

Sentence: 81 months in prison and $500,000 fine

Keith Raniere 

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit identity theft.

Plea: Not Guilty

Verdict: Guilty, all counts

Allison Mack

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking

Plea: Guilty (plea deal)

Kathy Russell

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy

Plea: Guilty (plea deal)

Lauren Salzman

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy

Plea: Guilty (plea deal)

Nancy Salzman

Charges: Racketeering conspiracy

Plea: Guilty

'Most of my teenage years and early 20s, I was ashamed of who I was, constantly focused on my shortcomings and ridden with self-hate.

'NXIVM changed that. I learned a sense of who I am beyond my faults and the tools of how to transform things I didn't like about myself into traits and behaviors I do. I started to embrace myself and turn outwardly to care for and help others.'

She reiterated in the letter that she had no knowledge of 'anything sexual or damaging' related to the ground.

'I was assured by them and by professionals that: there was no harm being done; no one was being forced to do anything; and to the contrary, people were experiencing improvements in their life through their membership in DOS,' she wrote.

She told the judge during her plea hearing that she had wanted to help people through NXIVM but ended up dishonoring her family.

'Your honor, I was afforded a great gift by my grandfather and father,' Bronfman said at the time. 'With the gift, comes immense privilege and more importantly, tremendous responsibility. It does not come with an ability to break the law.'

'For this, I am truly sorry.'

Bronfman's grandfather Samuel Bronfman founded Seagram and made millions during the prohibitions era of the 1920s by making liquor in Montreal, Quebec, where alcohol production was still legal. 

His son Edgar, who is Clare's father, would become CEO and took control of the first Seagram subsidiary in the United States in 1933. 

As part of her plea deal, Bronfman agreed to forfeit $6 million from a fortune that prosecutors say is worth $200 million.

The plea meant Bronfman, who was one of the most devout members of the group, avoided going to trial.   

Bronfman was one of five NXIVM members to be charged alongside Raniere – the guru of the group that attracted heiresses and Hollywood actresses.

Smallville actress Allison 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.

Mack, who admitted helping Raniere assemble his harem and collect 'collateral', and Bronfman were indicted at the same time as him. 

Raniere, who was arrested at a Mexican hideout in 2018 following an investigation into his group, is the only one to have faced trial.  

Raniere 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

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 

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.

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.

Among the more damning allegations against Raniere were that he had some women branded with his initials and that he started having sex with a follower when she was 15.

Prosecutors said he took nude photos of the teen that were shown to the jury during his trial. Raniere kept the photos stashed in his private study as 'a trophy' of 'his sexual conquest', jurors were told.

One victim described being confined to a bedroom for more than 700 days on orders from Raniere as punishment for showing interest in another man.

Another said she was blindfolded and bound to a table so that another woman could perform a sex act on her.

The defense argued during the trial that Raniere was a genuine believer in unconventional means for self-improvement and that all his sexual encounters with female followers were consensual.   

Raniere is scheduled to be sentenced next month.  

CLARE BRONFMAN'S LETTER TO JUDGE LAST MONTH: 

Dear Judge Garaufis,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you directly and for taking the time to read this. First, and most importantly, I want to apologize. I never meant hurt anyone, however I have and for this I am deeply sorry.

I would like to apologize in particular to editor's note: the name is redacted but it is clear she is referring to Sylvie, a DOS slave that she brought into the USA .

Although I wanted to make her life better, I made it worse. I imagine my actions and the last several years have been enormously difficult financially as well as painful for her emotionally, and I am truly sorry for everything she has had to go through.

Additionally, I wish to apologize to the Court, to my family and to others who have suffered as a result of my actions. I wish I could turn back the clock or take away the pain, but I can't. Instead, I will honor the consequences this Court gives me, learn from the many lessons the last several years have taught me, and commit to leading a law-abiding life committed to helping others.

Your Honor, I wanted to take the time to answer some of the questions I am sure you have of me, however, please know I am doing so in order to share with you the world from my eyes, rather than to gain any leniency.

Thank you in advance for being willing to read this and I am sorry you are even in the position where you have to determine a punishment for me.

For much of my life I was ashamed of my wealth, I felt it made me different, when all I wanted was to be accepted. Over the years the way I have tried to honor what was gifted to me is by working as hard as I can, and by trying to help others have opportunities, such as my hopewith redacted {Sylvie}.

Sadly, I failed in getting outside of my own struggle, to be able to think of and how different she is from me, how different her life experience is and how unfair it was to burden her with my struggles and solutions to them. In the process I hurt her instead of helping her, for which I am very sorry.

One of the hardest times of my life was my father billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. dying. Of the many gifts my father gave me, the most meaningful to me was our relationship, in particular the last two years of his life. Taking care of him was both painful and beautiful and when he died the void and pain was beyond anything I have ever experienced, a feeling which still haunts me today.

Shortly afterwards, I learned one of my closest friend's cancer had grown to stage 4 Pam . Over the next two years I did everything I could to find medicine to help her, however, the inevitable day came.

Honestly, I still have not been able to feel the pain of her death. After my father, I didn't think I could handle it. Pam was also Keith's life partner of 20 years, as well as 's closest friend.

As our office was handling all of Pam's personal finances, we continued to do so. I avoided dealing with the Estate or discussing it with Keith as I imagined the pain he was going through and didn't want to interfere.

Looking back, there were other options. I could have asked someone else to handle it, I could have put my feelings aside and been responsible, but I didn't. I failed Pam and I failed this Court.

Your Honor, I am truly sorry. I have spent numerous hours of self-reflection, and while I cannot change the fact that I made these choices and acted as such, I hope to remedy the effects of them.

I also want to take this opportunity to answer some of the other questions people may have of me, again, with the hope to share things from my eyes in order for others to understand me and some of my choices.

Many people, including most of my own family, believe I should disavow Keith and NXIVM, and that I have not is hard for them to understand or accept. However, for me, NXIVM and Keith greatly changed my life for the better. Most of my teenage years and early 20s, I was ashamed of who I was, constantly focused on my shortcomings and ridden with self-hate.

NXIVM changed that. I learned a sense of who I am beyond my faults and the tools of how to transform things I didn't like about myself into traits and behaviors I do. I started to embrace myself and turn outwardly to care for and help others.

One of the most important aspects of NXIVM for me was the people and the community. For the first time in my life I wasn't afraid to be with people. I built meaningful friendships and I was surrounded by people who were seeking to improve their lives. They supported and helped me to overcome patterns of self-loathing, insecurities, shame and fears. I found the things I felt most passionate about, fulfilled by and deeply cared about and I also found areas I was able to excel at outside of horses.

Additionally, I had a deep desire to learn about being a responsible leader and about business so I could honor the wealth and position my father and grandfather Samuel gifted me with, and through Keith's guidance, I was able to stop feeling ashamed of my wealth, and accept and embrace the responsibility of it.

I was given opportunities to build myself and my new-found love of business within the various companies, and, Keith encouraged and supported me building businesses outside of NXIVM.

Through my many years with NXIVM, I started to enjoy life, to feel accepted, loved and happy. Subsequently, many members of the community became like family to me and I cannot find it in me to now turn my back on those friendships, nor deny how profoundly Keith and NXIVM impacted my life. Even though some of them have now been labeled as bad for remaining friends, I experience them as some of the most kind hearted and well intentioned people I know.

I am also deeply grateful as many people and family members have submitted letters of support, which may lead to further financial, reputational and social damage. I believe family does that, they stand behind those they love despite negative consequences, and I amimmensely privileged to have that not only with my blood relatives, but also my friends.

However, while I am deeply grateful for all of the support I have received, I am also very sorry that it has caused them all so much grief and hardship.

People also believe I should have disavowed DOS, but from the information I had, it did not make sense for me to do so. When I found out about DOS, and with the blog Frank reporting many accusations, there were certainly things I was scared by and questions I had about it, however I never assumed bad intent so I asked a few of my friends to help me to understand it.

I was never told about anything sexual or damaging of any nature, and I was assured by them and by professionals that: there was no harm being done; no one was being forced to do anything; and to the contrary, people were experiencing improvements in their life through their membership in DOS.

I also understand when people question how I could not have known about DOS, I even asked myself the same question. While some of my closest friends were members of DOS, it was never unusual for them to be doing projects that I was not involved in. In fact, there weremany companies within NXIVM I was not involved in let alone social settings. I was also traveling a lot and when I was home in Albany, I was usually busy working, and when I was with my friends, no one talked about anything unusual and I had no reason to suspect a secretsociety existed. I am a private person, and I am always respectful believing that if people don't share their private lives with me, they probably don't want me to ask, so I don't.

I truly didn't know about it, and that is my solemn word before this Court.

Your Honor, I saw things unfold very differently than has been presented by the media and the Court. I never believed I was supporting anything bad or wrong, I never wanted to shield anyone from criminal behavior, I never intended to intimidate people. I did not and donot support anyone abusing or using violence towards anyone. I just tried to do what I thought was best to honor my role as a leader in NXIVM and a good friend.

The last two years have been immensely painful, many people's lives have been upended, a community where many of us thrived, felt purposeful, and really enjoyed our lives in has fallen apart and it has all caused tremendous pain for many people and their families.

In these last two years, I have spent my time reflecting on how all of this happened, and where I participated and why. I have tried to understand the bad choices I have made, and overcome the struggles driving me to choose them. I read each of the victim statementsrelating to me and become aware of many blind spots. Reading these letters, some from people I still care deeply about, has been immensely painful, however it has also been helpful to my understanding how my actions are perceived, and how some people have experienced me, and felt affected by me.

As a result I believe I stand here a better person, a person with a deeper understanding of humanity, of the differences between people and the gravity of how I affect others.

I have also taken the opportunity to honor a promise I made to my father yet had not fulfilled; getting my GED. In the process, I fell in love with education and have taken many online college courses on many subjects, studied bar exam courses, and read many books by a wide range of authors on many topics.

Additionally, I have reconnected with my maternal family, engaged in their lives and tried to be a good friend, sister, daughter, aunt, cousin, and niece as everyone has navigated the recent pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and effects.

Your honor, I deeply regret the decisions I made that lead me to being before you, and I am truly sorry for the harm it has caused others, in particular, and for the trouble, time and expense it has cost the Court. I take full responsibility for my actions and I will respect and honor whatever punishment you feel is just.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 

Letter obtained by Frankreport.com