High-Ranking NXIVM Member Avoids Prison After Helping Secure Sex Cult Leader’s Conviction

‘This almost destroyed me,’ Lauren Salzman told the court about the role she played in Keith Raniere’s group.

August 09, 2021
Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York

In this Jan. 29, 2019 file photo, Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York. [AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File]

In this Jan. 29, 2019 file photo, Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York. [AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File]

By: Aaron Rasmussen

A former high-ranking NXIVM member has avoided prison time after she worked closely with prosecutors and testified against the cult’s leader, Keith Raniere.

On July 28 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced 45-year-old Lauren Salzman, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges and has been on home confinement, to five years of probation and 300 hours of community service.

In a memorandum, prosecutors requested leniency for Salzman, crediting her for her four days of “credible, detailed” testimony during Raniere’s 2019 trial that “substantially contributed” to his conviction and 120-year sentence on sex trafficking and other charges.

Salzman could have received up to nine years behind bars.

“The defendant helped Keith Raniere implement some of the most twisted, manipulative and reprehensible schemes,” Judge Garaufis said at sentencing, according to The New York Times. “She is also herself a victim of Raniere and his depravity.”

Salzman first got involved with the cult in college when her mother and NXIVM co-founder, Nancy Salzman, encouraged her to take courses in order to unlock her potential in life, defense attorneys noted in a pre-sentencing memorandum, CNN reported.

Salzman’s mother has pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. She will be sentenced on September 8.

Lauren Salzman eventually went on to become part of Raniere’s inner circle and have a years-long sexual relationship with him.

“I do not have enough tears for how deeply sad, ashamed and regretful I feel about my time with Keith Raniere and my participation in his wrongful initiatives,” Salzman wrote the judge in a pre-sentencing letter. “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain, feelings of betrayal, feelings of violation and lasting emotional trauma that the victims have experienced.”

“The manipulation and years of abuse that I participated in and was complicit in became very clear,” continued Salzman, adding: “This almost destroyed me, but it also gave me a clear path and direction.”

Salzman now works with dogs and said she is “finally in a stable and consistently positive and progressive situation.”

“I feel proud of my choices and relieved to finally have a life that is my own, an experience I never had prior to now,” she wrote.

For more on the now defunct NXIVM cult and its founder Keith Raniere, stream The Lost Women of NXIVM now on discovery+.

Next Up

True Crime News Roundup: Newlywed Couple Fatally Shot, Groom’s Missing Brother ‘Considered Endangered’

Plus: College cult-leader dad found guilty of sex trafficking; trial begins for romance novelist accused of murdering husband; prosecutors decline to press charges in Amir Locke shooting; rapper Tory Lanez accused of violating protective order.

5 Things To Know About R. Kelly’s Upcoming Trial

If convicted, the R&B singer could face the rest of his life behind bars.

Ghislaine Maxwell: From Socialite To Jeffrey Epstein’s Co-Conspirator

On June 28, 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking crimes.

'I Was Definitely Brainwashed': Onision's Youngest Alleged Victim Speaks Out

Sarah alleges years of grooming, inappropriate sexual behavior and abuse at the hands of the YouTuber, beginning when she was just 14 years old.

What To Know About The Allegations Against SNL Alum Horatio Sanz

A “look-back window,” part of a new rule in New York City law, allows the alleged victim to bring this civil case against Sanz and NBC Universal in March 2023.

Missing 13-Year-Old Girl Found Locked In Man’s Shed Over 1,000 Miles From Her Home

A 13-year-old Texas girl was rescued after being kidnapped and held captive in a North Carolina shed by a man she met while gaming online.

Kidnapping Victim Helps Orchestrate Her Own Rescue By Holding Up Sign Saying 'Help Me'

A 13-year-old girl was rescued after holding up a sign from the window of Steven Robert Sablan’s car in a Long Beach, California parking lot.

Police Seek Possible Witnesses To 22-Year-Old Brooklyn Woman’s Murder

On Sept. 21, 2022, police responding to reports of a foul odor at a Brooklyn, New York apartment found the dismembered remains of 22-year-old D'Asia Johnson stuffed into a suitcase.

‘I Will Never Forgive You’: Sex Trafficking Survivor Helps Put Her Captors Behind Bars

“Now I'm free, but the trauma, it's still there,” Faith Robles says of her three-and-a-half-year ordeal.

New Trial Date Set For Accused Murderer Of 14-Year-Old Wendy Jerome

Back in 1984, a 14-year-old was murdered while walking to her friend’s house to deliver a birthday card. Now, after nearly 40 years, her alleged murderer was identified through DNA and faces trial.