Actress Allison Mack, who was found guilty in the NXIVM case, was recently released. For racketeering offenses committed in the NXIVM and Raniere-led "master/slave" gang, a former Halfmoon woman was sentenced to two years in California prison.
Former television personality Allison Mack was freed from federal jail after providing "slaves" to NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's covert organization that forced women who were starving and sleep-deprived into sex acts and subjected them to physical branding on their pelvic regions.
The Southern California-raised, German-born Mack rose to fame as Chloe Sullivan on the Superman-themed television series "Smallville." Later, Raniere and Mack co-founded NXIVM, a cult-like personal growth organization with headquarters in Colonie.
The former resident of Halfmoon, 40-year-old Mack, entered a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn in 2019 and admitted to engaging in racketeering. On Monday, the federal Bureau of Prisons announced that she had been released from detention.
Mack was given a three-year jail term two years ago by Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who described her as "an essential accomplice" to Raniere.
Mack is the first NXIVM defendant to have served their whole prison term. Nancy Salzman, 68, of Halfmoon, a former NXIVM president who pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and was given a three-and-a-half year term, will be released in July 2024. The 44-year-old NXIVM operations director and Manhattan-based Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman, 44, received an 81-month sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants for financial gain and fraudulent use of identification. She lived in Manhattan and Clifton Park and is scheduled to be released in June 2025.
Two further defendants– NXIVM education director Lauren Salzman and Halfmoon-based bookkeeper Kathy Russell were given probation.
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Mack relocated to Halfmoon's Knox Woods townhouse community, where a dozen of the top NXIVM members were already residing. In DOS, which Raniere invented in 2015, she would eventually become one of eight "first line" slaves who directly reported to Raniere, the "grand master."
Former "slaves" testified during Raniere's trial that they were forced into DOS by women who believed it was a covert sorority intended to empower women. In order to join, recruits had to provide "collateral" such as degrading details about themselves or their loved ones, which could have been made up. When the recruits joined DOS, they discovered that they were "slaves" who had sworn a lifetime of allegiance to "masters."
DOS stands for Dominus Obsequious Sororium which translates in Latin to "Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions".
Former NXIVM publicist and blogger Frank Parlato, the brand was highlighted in a New York Times story in October 2017. The following March, authorities arrested Raniere in Mexico, where he fled with key supporters, including Mack. He was indicted along with Raniere in a wide-ranging racketeering case that resulted in six convictions.
For a crime like this, Mack could have faced as much as 14 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors asked the judge to show Mack leniency due to her cooperation. She provided prosecutors with information on Raniere and Bronfman.
In a letter to the judge prior to the sentencing, Mack told Garaufis: “It is now of paramount importance to me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had ... I believed, whole-heartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him. This was the biggest mistake and greatest regret of my life.”