How much jail time will NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman face?
NXIVM was an MLM on the outside, and a sex cult on the inside. The group advertised itself as a “self-help” group, which would empower you both in your personal & business lives and classes cost thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, women were being recruited to the sub-sect DOS, where they would be blackmailed, abused, branded, and forced to pleasure the leader Keith Raniere.
In 2018 the leaders of this sadistic cult were arrested. The organization was so big that there were far more culprits than just Raniere. Smallville actress Allison Mack, Clare Bronfman, Nancy Salzman & her daughter Lauren, and Kathy Russell were all arrested for their crimes in taking advantage of & harming other people.
Nancy Salzman has yet to be sentenced for her crimes, but some of her partners in crime have recently been handed down their judgement. Let’s take a look at what Nancy Salzman’s role in NXIVM was and what her potential punishment may be.
Co-creator of NXIVM
Salzman co-created NXIVM with Raniere in the late 1990s. The two met in 1997 at the health food store Raniere owned at the time. At the time Salzman was a nurse and trained hypnotist.
The reason she and Raniere bonded was over a shared interest in hypnosis and “neuro linguistic programming”, which is mostly a fancy way to say “brainwashing” since it’s a way of changing people’s thoughts through language.
Their shared ability to entrance people or otherwise make them compliant would eventually be an integral part of how NXIVM recruited. There’s a reason therapists were banned from attending NXIVM events and classes.
Salzman is credited with being an important part of creating NXIVM’s “behavioral programs” and the group’s structure as a whole. She was part of the cult from its inception to its eventual downfall. As time went on Salzman would come to be known as “prefect” – a term which usually refers to someone being an administrative leader.
She was eventually charged with racketeering conspiracy and obstruction of justice when she was arrested. Salzman pleaded guilty to the racketeering charge. Despite this she did admit to having stolen email addresses & passwords of group members she didn’t trust, and that she had ordered for videos requested by the DOJ to be altered & edited.
Salzman’s daughter was also recruited by Nancy. Lauren Salzman is said to have overseen the branding of women recruited to DOS.
Sentencing
Nancy Salzman is still waiting to find out what her sentence will be. She was scheduled to receive it in July of this year, however due to COVID-19 pandemic complications the date was pushed back, something her co-conspirators have also experienced.
Despite this, the leaders of NXIVM are finally starting to find out what their fates are. Earlier this fall Clare Bronfman, the heiress to the alcohol company Seagram, was sentenced to 81 months (six years and nine months) in prison for identity theft and immigration offenses – quite a bit more than the five years the prosecution asked for.
Keith Raniere received his sentencing just yesterday and was handed a sentence of 120 years in prison. Seeing that he’s currently in his 60s, he will never be a free man again.
Knowing what Bronfman and Raniere’s sentences are is important when trying to estimate what Salzman’s punishment will be. Both Bronfman & Raniere have seen harsh sentences, which means Salzman isn’t likely to see much leniency either. Her potential sentence is 33 to 41 months in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
If the previous two decisions are any indication it seems likely Salzman will be given the maximum possible penalties. At the moment it’s not known when Nancy Salzman will be given her sentence, but it’s likely to occur before the year is over.
Joanne E Fletcher
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Her sentence should be as much as keith as they worked hand and hand.
October 28, 2020S KasBier
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I agree. . .
October 29, 2020Christine White
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I couldn’t agree more. In fact, hers should be doubled seeing as she’s a woman and purposely did this to young, vulnerable girls and very young adult women. She’s vile.
October 29, 2020Jlo
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Agree. At least 30 to life.
October 31, 2020Jason
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Agree. She knew exactly what they were doing and what they were building she deserves life in prison.
October 31, 2020Sandi Knowler
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Yes she’s very much involved knew what was going on she should get enough for life imprisonment.
October 29, 2020Nicole Bryant
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I think Nancy Salzman was an integral part of this organization… check out the documentary “The Vow” … she is one of the brainwashers.. with her hypnotherapy , I believe she was a co-conspirator in all things NXIVM and all the sub groups… I believe her punishment should be as severe as Keith Raniere
October 29, 2020Brian
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These atheist asshole followers was seeking “enlightenment “ when they should have seeked Jesus🙏
October 29, 2020Jlo
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They should have sought a brain..
October 31, 2020Self-actualization
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They aren’t aethiest, some are even evangelical! Watch the documentary and educate yourself!
October 31, 2020Jarma13
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I love it!
They should have followed the con that duped you.
So assured and self righteous.
So convinced your way is the right way.
They are luckier than you. Their leader actually exists so they could see he was lie. You could die without ever waking up at all.
October 31, 2020Sally west
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Yes!!!!
November 2, 2020Jennifer
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Brian–Exactly! Tell all the world about Jesus. They are searching for Jesus & need to hear the good word.. You got it kid
November 10, 2020K
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At one point in a later episode of hbos the vow, you see Raniere look up lovingly at Salzman..it’s clear to see they both were in it together. None of these women, especially Mack, Salzman(daughter) and Bronfman, should get lessor sentences. If Raniere taught them all well enough they are now ‘master’ manipulators in their own right. Saying anything to get out of the crimes they inflicted it even worse..gaslighting their victims all together. Macks wife disgusts me.
October 29, 2020Jarma13
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Who is Mack’s wife?
October 31, 2020Also… Nancy had nothing to gain from serving Keith’s sexuality. She may not have known about it. What daughter shares the intimate details of their sex lives with their mothers?
Allison Mack is a victim. He was in her head, playing her like a violin.
Lashaun Miller
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I agree!..She should get just as many yrs..As her co-conspirator…
October 29, 2020JJ
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She didn’t know about the branding apparently. I listened to a podcast called Cults. Not that she’s not totally manipulative and awful, getting her daughter involved and knowing that both her and her daughter were sleeping with him!?!?
October 29, 2020Self-actualization
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I call BS! How could she be that oblivious? Her own daughter Lauren was heavily involved!
October 31, 2020Joy
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Nancy knew everything.
November 1, 2020Celtic jones
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Are you kidding me, 33 months.. This bitch deserves 33 life times…. Lock that bitch up forever !!! She’s nasty !
October 30, 2020Catie
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This is no different from what Extreme religion does to people. She needs to be in jail for life. Look at radical Christian evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims and the list goes on. The misinformation and brainwashing even goes on to a lesser extent with mommy blogs and their own pyramid schemes. He did it under the guise of science and I would have the first question, where are the peer reviewed studies to your methodology? What terrible people to take advantage of people who wanted self help…. stick to listening to medical doctors and licensed therapists. Follow the credentials before seeking mental health help and don’t get wrapped up in someone’s pseudoscience and buy into their products.
October 31, 2020Richard
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She should get “at least” 50% of the sentence Raniere received. It is my opinion that she knew, or was responsible, for every misdeed that NXIVM had their hand in.
November 1, 2020Joy
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Nancy Salzman is just as guilty as Keith Raniere. Watching Nancy talk is coersive and creepy. She is evil.
November 1, 2020LathamJoe
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I believe that Nancy Salzman cooperated with law enforcement authorities in helping with Raniere’s conviction. In the same way that mafia “rats” are given lighter sentences and/or immunity, for their cooperation, she will be given a surprisingly mild sentence, maximum 3 years .
November 1, 2020Jason
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NLP is not “brainwashing”–that’s a wildly inaccurate characterization. Your rationale for calling it that is that it “changes people’s thoughts through language”: do you really think that’s the definition of brainwashing? A persuasive logical argument also changes people’s thinking through the use of language–is that “brainwashing” too? You do a great disservice to many legitimate NLP practitioners across a diverse array of fields–people you might easily have learned about, had you cared to do a bit of simple research.
November 2, 2020Dawn
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As a LICENSED therapist (dual), I say look at the evidence on NPL. Even Wikipedia states “There is no scientific evidence supporting the claims made by NLP advocates, and it has been discredited as a pseudoscience. Scientific reviews state that NLP is based on outdated metaphors of how the brain works that are inconsistent with current neurological theory and contain numerous factual errors”.
Nancy might have had her bachelor in nursing (evidence out on that) then attended conferences or workshops on NPL & hypnotherapy…. she was no therapist or psychologist as the Vow or articles state, nor is NPL evidence based treatment
November 11, 2020Caitlyn M
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@Jason,
This is from the ABOVE article.
“neuro linguistic programming”, which is mostly a fancy way to say “brainwashing”
Just wanted to let you know that.
December 15, 2020JOHN CARL
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I knew Nancy prior to Keith and the when she met Keith, Kirsten Keefe, Pam, Etc. You could tell Keith was praying on women either single about to get divorced etc. She played her role in influencing women and others. It is sad that an intelligent person misused her skills. She was definitely involved as Keith and should receive a life time sentence
November 3, 2020UK Contributor
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Make examples of them all. Lengthy prison sentences for all of them. Are whippings and hard labour still practiced in the USA???
November 3, 2020UK Contributor
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Clare Bronfman, being an ‘extremely wealthy’ woman who has led a ‘very extravagant’ lifestyle, has just lost her liberty for the next 7 years!!!!
November 3, 2020Andi Jo
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I wonder if the soon (ASAP) outgoing President and ‘followers’ have some knowledge or indeed a deeper understanding of NWIVM???
November 10, 2020You can see some parallels in differing cults within the USA.
Just a thought!!!!!
Denise Kyte
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I personally think the sentences are too high. I know what they ended up doing was repulsive, branding women and making them slave but they didn’t commit murder, rape, or anything as bad as that.
Also having watched the documentary, the other modules they taught seemed to be really good advice, centred on well thought out theories. The guy Keith seemed to be a genius with a lot of well thought out phillosophical advice to give. When I started watching the documentary, I actually thought this is something I’d like to join myself as so many people seemed to thrive on it. Nancy came across as warm and very wise. It’s such a shame these people went to the extreme with it and so many people who had worked so hard, suddenly lost their purpose.
Yes branding is bad taking sexual advantage of women is bad, blackmailing people is bad but I stil don’t think they deserved such high sentences. It’s a sham the courses are not still running but without the DOS and the other dubious activies goiing on behind the scenes.
November 18, 2020Jc
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What happened to superman he didn’t save Allison?Or lex for that matter
November 21, 2020Elizabeth watt
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just finished watching The Vow why are people especially americans so gullible they deserve all they get i hope they throw away the keys
November 24, 2020