Post by Babu Baboon on Apr 8, 2019 18:53:22 GMT -6
Smallville star Allison Mack on Monday pleaded guilty for her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult case, Variety reports.
The former Chloe Sullivan actress was first arrested in April 2018 and faced charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor, and later pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Mack faces 15 years to life in prison. Per Variety:
According to prosecutors, Mack recruited women into NXIVM, a network of self-help programs based in Albany, N.Y. The recruits were told the group would help with women’s empowerment. Prosecutors say the organization was set up like a pyramid scheme, with courses costing thousands of dollars. Prosecutors also allege that the leader of the group, Keith Raniere, established a secret sex cult within the organization, in which “slaves” were branded in their pelvic areas with his initials.
Also charged alongside Mack and Raniere in July were NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman and daughter Lauren, bookkeeper Kathy Russell, and Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman.
“As alleged, this long-running conspiracy crossed multiple avenues of criminal activity, which included, among other things, electronic monitoring; identity theft; extortion; victim smuggling; and illegal trafficking of a victim after a period of unlawful confinement. The details of these alleged crimes become more and more grim as we continue to dig deeper into the conduct of this organization and its intended mission,” William Sweeney, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office said in July. “Today’s superseding indictment highlights our commitment to bringing justice to NXIVM’s many victims.”
“It’s funny because I’ve chosen not to talk about it only because it’s so shocking and all I can say is this: When I was on that show, Allison was the sweetest, most professional [person]. She was just a great girl, a great actress,” Mack’s former co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, told This Past Weekend in July.
“I remember she was a part of something, and it was different than it was now. But I remember her mentioning something, there’s this organization or something, or whatever, I didn’t listen to it.” Opting to wait for the “whole story,” Rosenbaum admitted what has come out thus far is “just shocking and surprising.”
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The former Chloe Sullivan actress was first arrested in April 2018 and faced charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor, and later pleaded not guilty. If convicted, Mack faces 15 years to life in prison. Per Variety:
According to prosecutors, Mack recruited women into NXIVM, a network of self-help programs based in Albany, N.Y. The recruits were told the group would help with women’s empowerment. Prosecutors say the organization was set up like a pyramid scheme, with courses costing thousands of dollars. Prosecutors also allege that the leader of the group, Keith Raniere, established a secret sex cult within the organization, in which “slaves” were branded in their pelvic areas with his initials.
Also charged alongside Mack and Raniere in July were NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman and daughter Lauren, bookkeeper Kathy Russell, and Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman.
“As alleged, this long-running conspiracy crossed multiple avenues of criminal activity, which included, among other things, electronic monitoring; identity theft; extortion; victim smuggling; and illegal trafficking of a victim after a period of unlawful confinement. The details of these alleged crimes become more and more grim as we continue to dig deeper into the conduct of this organization and its intended mission,” William Sweeney, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office said in July. “Today’s superseding indictment highlights our commitment to bringing justice to NXIVM’s many victims.”
“It’s funny because I’ve chosen not to talk about it only because it’s so shocking and all I can say is this: When I was on that show, Allison was the sweetest, most professional [person]. She was just a great girl, a great actress,” Mack’s former co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, told This Past Weekend in July.
“I remember she was a part of something, and it was different than it was now. But I remember her mentioning something, there’s this organization or something, or whatever, I didn’t listen to it.” Opting to wait for the “whole story,” Rosenbaum admitted what has come out thus far is “just shocking and surprising.”
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