UPDATE:: 'Smallville' actress pleads guilty in cult's sex-trafficking case
TV actress Allison Mack pleaded guilty Monday to charges she was involved in a scheme to turn women into sex slaves for the spiritual leader of a cult-like upstate New York group, a development that came on the same day jury selection began for a federal trial in the case.
Mack, 36, wept as she admitted her crimes and apologized to the women who prosecutors say were exploited by Keith Raniere and the purported self-help group called NXIVM.
"I believed Keith Raniere's intentions were to help people, and I was wrong," Mack told a Brooklyn judge.
Mack - best known for her role as a young Superman's close friend on the series "Smallville" - said that after months of reflection since her arrest, "I know I can and will be a better person."
UPDATE:: Daughter of NXIVM leader pleads guilty
Lauren Salzman, the daughter of NXIVM President Nancy Salzman, quietly pleaded guilty earlier this week to two felony charges in connection with the Justice Department's criminal prosecution of the Colonie-based organization's leaders.
Salzman, 42, who owns a residence in Halfmoon, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy during an unannounced court appearance Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, according to court documents.
The transcript of her plea hearing was sealed and no one from the public attended, although it took place in open court. The government late Thursday asked the judge to release a transcript of the proceeding, but to keep a portion of it under seal. Their reasons for making that request were also filed under seal, indicating Salzman may have agreed to cooperate in the investigation when she pleaded guilty.
UPDATE:: NXIVM President Nancy Salzman Pleads Guilty to Racketeering ConspiracyA date has been set for the trial in the NXIVM case.
The second-highest ranking member of a self-help group accused of sex trafficking and racketeering has pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. Nancy Salzman admitted to conspiring to commit identity theft and editing a video submitted as court evidence.
Salzman told a Brooklyn courtroom that some of the things she did as president of NXIVM were not only wrong, but criminal. “If I could go back and change things, I would. But I can’t,” she said. She could face years of prison time at a July sentencing hearing.
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Salzman’s guilty plea is the first conviction in a high-profile criminal case that could break new legal ground on cults, pyramid schemes and consent. The most serious charges, sex trafficking and forced labour, are connected to a secret women-only empowerment group the feds say was created to groom sexual partners for NXIVM’s leader, Keith Raniere.
According to federal court documents, opening statements are scheduled to begin March 18, 2019.
Trial date set in NXIVM sex trafficking case | WNYT.com
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