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In July, 2021 Allison Mack was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her leadership position in the NXIVM cult, which included acting as lead recruiter for the cult’s exclusive master-slave sorority, D.O.S. Thanks to brave ex-members speaking on the record, documentaries like HBO’s The Vow and Starz’s Seduced exposed D.O.S. as a group of women who were groomed to be sexually abused by NXIVM leader Keith Raniere. These women were coerced into filming future-blackmail material on themselves which was handed over as collateral, and they were branded. Mack pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors by handing over evidence against Raniere and displaying “remorse” in court, which was why she got off with the shamefully low sentence of three years. On Monday she was released after only serving two of the three years:
The television actor Allison Mack, who pleaded guilty for her role in a sex-trafficking case tied to the cult-like group NXIVM, has been released from a California prison, according to a government website.
Mack, best known for her role as a young Superman’s close friend on “Smallville,” was sentenced to three years behind bars in 2021 after pleading guilty two years earlier to charges that she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.
Online records maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Mack, 40, was released Monday from a federal prison in Dublin, California, near San Francisco. Her release was first reported by the Albany Times-Union.
Mack avoided a longer prison term by cooperating with federal authorities in their case against Raniere, who was ultimately sentenced to 120 years in prison after being convicted on sex-trafficking charges.
Mack helped prosecutors mount evidence showing how Raniere created a secret society that included brainwashed women who were branded with his initials and forced to have sex with him.
In addition to Mack, members of the group included an heiress to the Seagram’s liquor fortune, Clare Bronfman; and a daughter of TV star Catherine Oxenberg of “Dynasty” fame.
Mack would later repudiate Raniere and express “remorse and guilt” before her sentencing in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
This is despicable. Yes, Keith Raniere got a hefty sentence to serve 120 years in federal prison (the rest of his life) and to pay $3.46 million in restitution (arguably a low figure). But the NXIVM women who held prominent positions have walked away with paltry sentences–just under seven years for Seagram’s heiress Clare Bronfman who funded the cult, and 3.5 years for co-founder Nancy Salzman–and now Allison Mack has been released a whole year early. Mack was running D.O.S. right up there with Raniere. Their initials are branded onto women’s bodies–including one who was 15 at the time. All Mack served was two years. I’m angry, are you?
One last note: I find it beyond distasteful that media like HuffPost above, and even The New York Times, are still referring to NXIVM as a “cult-like” group. NXIVM is a cult, full-stop. Labeling it as anything less is a slap in the face to the victims.
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