NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A former member of inner circle who was charged in his sex trafficking enterprise avoided prison at sentencing Wednesday after prosecutors cited her extraordinary cooperation.
Lauren Salzman was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to five years probation for her role in the who included millionaires and actors. The judge also ordered her to perform 300 hours of community service.
In a letter two weeks ago to Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, prosecutors noted that her guilty plea to racketeering would normally call for a sentence of seven to nine years in prison. But they cited her 鈥渃redible, detailed" as reason for leniency.
Salzman, a one-time member of NXIVM's executive board who pleaded guilty and agreed to become a government cooperator, was about submitting to a barbaric ritual meant to show his slaves devotion to him.
Salzman testified about being held down in 2017 while another Raniere devotee used a cauterizing pen to etch his initials into an area near her pelvis, describing a bizarre initiation procedure.
鈥淢aster, please brand me. It would be an honor,鈥� she recalled saying just before she was branded.
She testified that it was 鈥渢he most painful thing I鈥檝e ever experienced.鈥�
She also testified that she organized other brandings, inviting women to her house, where they were required to strip naked and sit blindfolded in a circle as part of the ritual.
The first woman branded, she said, 鈥渨as screaming and squealing.鈥�
In a letter to the judge prior to her sentencing, Salzman wrote: 鈥淚 wish I could take my participation back. I wish I had been stronger and seen things sooner. ... I can鈥檛 even begin to imagine the pain, feelings of betrayal, feelings of violation and lasting emotional trauma that the victims have experienced."
At sentencing, she apologized to NXIVM's victims.
Salzman's attorney, Hector J. Diaz, said after her sentencing that his client 鈥渓ooks forward to closing a very difficult and incredibly unfortunate chapter to her life. Today marked another step toward this goal.
He added: 鈥淪he wants to be respectful of the victims in this case and will not make further statements at this time. She looks forward to living a private and productive life.鈥�
Last October, Garaufis for turning some adherents into sex slaves branded with his initials and sexually abusing a 15-year-old.
At Raniere's sentencing, 15 victims called for a lengthy prison term.
Last month, in prison for her role in NXIVM. Prosecutors said she cooperated with the prosecution after pleading guilty in the case.
Without cooperating, Mack would have faced between 14 and 17 1/2 years behind bars, according to federal sentencing guidelines.
Her sentence included prison time after prosecutors said she became a 鈥渕aster鈥� for 鈥渟laves鈥� she ordered 鈥渢o perform labor, take nude photographs, and in some cases, to engage in sex acts with Raniere.鈥�
Last September, Seagram's liquor fortune heir Clare Bronfman was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for her role as an unwavering benefactor to Raniere.
As authorities closed in on Raniere, he and others to try to reconstitute the group there. He was arrested and sent to the United States in March 2018; Mack was arrested a few days later.
The Associated Press
