Jailed NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere is left unconscious after being punched in the head by inmate before being put with intersex prisoner next to a cage smeared with human feces
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11236899/Jailed-NXIVM-sex-cult-leader-Keith-Raniere-left-unconscious-punched-head.html
Convicted sex cult leader Keith Raniere has been beaten up and knocked unconscious in his prison in Tucson, Arizona by another prisoner - before being housed with an intersex inmate next to a cage smeared with human feces.
Raniere, who is serving his first year of a 120-year sentence, says he was assaulted by Maurice Withers as he walked to his table with his food one morning, and faced disciplinary action for 'fighting' despite not fighting back.
Withers, 33, was put behind bars for sex trafficking crimes in Madison, Wisconsin and punched Raniere in the face, leaving him with a black eye and nausea for a week, despite never having spoken to him before.
'I was given a disciplinary ticket for 'fighting' and have had my privileges revoked and was placed in segregation 'pending investigation,' Raniere said, also claiming he 'did not fight back' in the sworn affidavit on September 6.
He remains in a segregation unit, a housing unit set aside from the general population, and his lawyers contend he should have been 'returned to his normal housing.'
While Raniere is said to have branded his female 'slaves' on their public area with his initials, Withers reportedly has a tattoo that reads 'Ain't no money like hoe money,' according to prosecutors.
The former NXIVM ringleader has reportedly been forced to spend hours in cells smeared with human feces, is housed with an intersex female prisoner and is allowed only one five-minute phone call a month, among other grievances.
'Currently he is allowed one five-minute phone call per month, he cannot have a razor, he has no access to legal resources, and given books 'at staff discretion,'' his lawyers say.
Raniere says he believes these measures and the disciplinary ticket are 'retaliation for the recent publicity that my case has received as a result of my efforts to challenge my conviction.'
He was convicted in 2019 of all charges of sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and racketeering charges with underlying acts that included possession of child pornography, extortion and identify theft.
His lawyer, Stacy Scheff, says the disciplinary ticket was eventually dropped but also believes the prison warden was aware Raniere was victimized but is attempting to retaliate as Raniere is appealing his conviction.
>The cult leader's legal team believe they have a chance to have his convictions thrown out over the FBI's alleged bungles and fabrications.
Their report points to alleged 'anomalies with the FBI search', such as the unusual manner in which agents collected evidence from Raniere's study at a home in Halfmoon, New York in March 2018.
They claim that investigators 'bypassed' several areas of the home and went 'straight to a study area where, under a desk, were the very first two evidentiary items they collected: the Canon digital camera along with its camera card.'
Those two items were, 'notably,' the 'only two pieces of digital evidence the government used to prove the child pornography and child exploitation RICO acts, which would stem from an allegedly accidental discovery of photos eleven months later,' the report states.
In an interview with DailyMail.com, a top former FBI cyber forensics expert hired by Raniere's attorneys believes there were bungled procedures, manipulation of evidence and even an apparent effort to 'frame' the cult leader for his child sex conviction.