Updated: Guilty Plea
Millionaire Liquor Heiress Pleads Guilty in NYC Sex Cult Case; Alleged Bookkeeper Expected to Plead Guilty: Sources
The heiress to the Seagram's liquor fortune has pleaded guilty to two charges in connection with the alleged NXIVM sex-trafficking cult case.
Clare Bronfman, the 39-year-old daughter of late philanthropist and Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman, issued a tearful apology in court Friday.
NXIVM’s alleged bookkeeper, Kathy Russell, is also expected to plead guilty in connection with the case, sources say.
Bronfman was charged with money laundering and identity theft as part of her support for NXIVM. She surrendered to the FBI and pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges.
NXIVM garnered headlines for an initiation ritual that includes branding, its attempts to recruit celebrities and accusations by prosecutors that members were turned into sex slaves for leader Keith Raniere.
According to court documents, Bronfman allegedly committed identity theft of at least two women and illegally brought another woman into the country.
Russell, who was charged with Bronfman, had also previously pleaded not guilty.
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A former competitor in international equestrian show jumping competitions, Bronfman is accused in an indictment of taking a number of steps to help NXIVM's founder exercise control over members of the upstate New York group, including identity theft, interception of electronic communications and money laundering.
She was part of an "inner circle" of loyalists who "committed a broad range of serious crimes from identity theft and obstruction of justice to sex trafficking, all to promote and protect Raniere and NXIVM," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement.
According to the New York Times, a hearing following Bronfman's arrest last year gave a glimpse of her considerable wealth. According to the report, her lawyer said Bronfman was worth around $200 million, with about half of the fortune tied up in trusts supervised by Goldman Sachs, and the remainder in real estate in New York, California and Fiji, including an island she bought for $47 million.
Seagram's Heiress Arrested in NXIVM Sex-Trafficking Case
Raniere was arrested in Mexico and was brought to the U.S. to face charges that he, along with an adherent, the “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, coerced followers into becoming slaves to senior members.
Mack pleaded guilty earlier this month to racketeering and related conspiracy charges.
Raniere is expected to go to trial later this month.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Plea-Deal-Expected-Seagram-Heiress-Alleged-Sex-Cult-Case-NXIVM-New-York–508810091.html