Mack, 38, was sentenced by U.S.
District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn,
after pleading guilty in 2019 to racketeering
and conspiracy. She is expected to begin serving
her sentence on Sept. 29.
Before being sentenced, Mack tearfully
apologized to her victims and her family, saying
her actions while in the group were "abusive,
abhorrent and illegal." She said she had
completely renounced NXIVM leader Keith Raniere,
who was sentenced to 120 years in prison last
year for sex trafficking and other crimes.
"Coming out from under this delusion has been
the most difficult experience of my life," Mack
said.
Former NXIVM members testified at Raniere's
trial that he established a secret sorority
within the organization in which "slaves"
pledged total obedience to "masters," with
Raniere at the top as "grand master." Women were
kept on starvation diets, branded with Raniere's
initials and in some cases coerced into sex with
him.
Leaders of the group were said to use nude
photos and other compromising materials to keep
lower-ranking members in line. Mack, who was
both a "slave" of Raniere and "master" of other
women, admitted in her guilty plea that she
coerced two women into doing unpaid work by
threatening to release damaging information
about them.
[to top of second column]
|
One victim, Jessica Joan, spoke
at Wednesday's sentencing, saying Mack
emotionally manipulated her and eventually
ordered her to "seduce" Raniere, with the
promise that doing so would resolve her trauma
from previous sexual abuse. Joan said she did
not obey that order. Joan called
Mack "a predator and an evil human being" and
said she was "cut from the same cloth" as
Raniere. Garaufis said that Mack
had been an "essential accomplice" in Raniere's
"monstrous crimes," rejecting her lawyers' plea
for a sentence of home confinement or probation.
However, the judge agreed with prosecutors that
she deserved credit for cooperating against
Raniere, warranting a sentence much lower than
the 14 years called for by federal guidelines.
He also said he believed her remorse was
sincere.
"Smallville," a television series that ran from
2001 to 2011, featured a young Clark Kent before
he became famous as Superman. Mack played Chloe
Sullivan, his close friend.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New YorkEditing
by Jonathan Oatis and Steve Orlofsky)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content
|