Leader of NXIVM Wants To Nix Convictions by Accusing Feds of Planting Evidence
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With only four years of his 120-year sentence in federal prison behind him, former NXIVM leader Keith Raniere can’t be judged too harshly for taking every opportunity possible to try to win himself a new trial. When it comes to the merit of his pleadings and the underlying conviction, however, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals appeared likely to exercise quite a bit of judgment.
Judges appeared skeptical of the claims presented by Raniere’s attorney before the Appeals Court on October 21, 2025. The court filing alleges that the convicted NXIVM sex cult leader was framed by false evidence of child pornography that had been created and placed on his computer’s hard drive by federal investigators. Because this charge was so inflammatory at Raniere’s trial, Raniere argues that it colored the jury’s decisions on the other felonies he was also convicted of.
Raniere’s appeal comes after U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis denied his motion in April 2024. Raniere’s claims that the metadata that came from his Canon camera had been subject to tampering by federal agents and thus was new evidence that he didn’t have access to at the time of his trial were dismissed as untrue. Judge Garaufis ruled that Raniere was trying to get “a second bite at the same apple.” U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar presented the same argument before the Second Circuit panel.
Raniere and co-founder Nancy Saltzman started NXIVM in 1998. Billed as a self-help group, it began offering workshops for executive success and a tiered system demarcated by colored scarves. Like other pyramid schemes, members could advance in rank by spending money to attend more classes and seminars or by securing new recruits. Raniere, referred to as “Vanguard,” was the unquestioned leader of NXIVM.
However, there was an even darker side to the criminal enterprise. An inner circle of women, known as either “the Vow” or “D.O.S.,” secured women for sexual exploitation by Raniere. In addition to forcing obedience as sex slaves by requiring them to provide sexually explicit photos, members of the Vow branded the women with a mark indicating “ownership” by Raniere using a heated hanger twisted into a certain pattern.
Following the New York Times’ 2017 story about the branding, an investigation by federal authorities led to Raniere’s arrest in 2018. A superseding indictment later that year charged Raniere and five members of the Vow, including Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman and actress Allison Mack, with counts that included racketeering conspiracy, extortion, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, and wire fraud conspiracy. After a six-week trial in 2019, Raniere was found guilty on seven charges and sentenced to 120 years in federal prison. He was later ordered to pay $3.4 million in restitution to his victims. Most of the Vow members pleaded guilty.
Content retrieved from: https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/courtside/leader-of-nxivm-wants-to-nix-convictions-by-accusing-feds-of-planting-evidence/.
