Allison Mack Has Been Sentenced to Three Years In Prison

Allison Mack, an actress who was involved in the NXIVM cult, has been sentenced according to a tweet from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in 2019 and has been sentenced to three years in prison along with a $20,000 fine. This is drastically less than Mack’s colleagues Clare Bronfman, who was sentenced to 7 years, and NXIVM leader Keith Raniere who was sentenced to 120 years.

Mack’s slap on the wrist is likely a result of her cooperation with the investigation into NXIVM and her ability to frame herself as a victim of the group in a statement released prior to her sentencing. In the statement, Mack apologized to NXIVM writing, “I believed, whole-heartedly, that [Raniere’s] 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.” Attached to the letter was a request from Mack’s lawyers that she face no jail time.

Far from being just a victim, investigators found that Mack was responsible for bringing women into an NXIVM subgroup, DOS, which branded women with Raniere’s initials and, as one victim described it, “was a ploy for Keith to enslave women for his own sexual desires.” The group was advertised to women as a female empowerment group in order to lure them in.

Previous reporting also revealed how Mack encouraged the women in DOS to starve themselves to the point that they were “wraith thin” and had “translucent skin.” When concerns about what was happening with the DOS women were brought to Raniere he simply said he was “trying to break them,” referring to Mack and her circle. Raniere still denies any wrongdoing.