United States v. Raniere

• Decision Date: 09 December 2022
• Docket Number: 20-3520-cr (L); 20-3789-cr (Con),August Term 2021
• Citation: 55 F.4th 354
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Keith RANIERE, also known as Vanguard, and Clare Bronfman, Defendants-Appellants, Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, Lauren Salzman, and Nancy Salzman, also known as Prefect, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

55 F.4th 354

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v. Keith RANIERE, also known as Vanguard, and Clare Bronfman, Defendants-Appellants,Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, Lauren Salzman, and Nancy Salzman, also known as Prefect, Defendants.¹

No. 20-3520-cr (L); 20-3789-cr (Con)

August Term 2021

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: May 3, 2022

Decided: December 9, 2022

Tanya Hajjar, Assistant United States Attorney (Kevin Trowel, Assistant United States Attorney, on the brief), for Breon Peace, United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY, for Appellee United States of America.

Joseph M. Tully, Tully & Weiss Attorneys at Law, Martinez, CA (Jennifer Bonjean, Bonjean Law Group, PLLC, New York, NY, on the brief), for Defendant-Appellant Keith Raniere.

Before: Calabresi, Cabranes, and Sullivan, Circuit Judges.

José A. Cabranes, Circuit Judge:

After a six-week jury trial, Keith Raniere was convicted in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Nicholas G. Garaufis, Judge ) of numerous counts related to his leadership of two organizations: a self-styled executive coaching and self-help organization called NXIVM and a secret society called "DOS," an acronym for "Dominus Obsequious Sororium," a phrase that roughly translates to "Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions." At trial, the Government presented evidence that Raniere led both entities as pyramid organizations, and that he—alongside his "inner circle"—committed, attempted, or conspired to commit various crimes, including sex trafficking, forced labor, identity theft, wire fraud, racketeering, sexual exploitation of a minor, possession of child pornography, and obstruction of justice. During the lengthy trial, the Government also presented evidence that members of the organizations recruited and groomed sexual partners for Raniere, and that numerous women were coerced to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts with Raniere.

On appeal, Raniere raises numerous challenges to his various convictions. By summary order issued on the same day as this opinion, we dispose of most of Raniere's arguments (along with the appeal of Raniere's co-defendant, Clare Bronfman). We write separately here to address Raniere's arguments concerning his sex trafficking convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1591.

Raniere's arguments turn on the meaning of "commercial sex act," which the statute defines as "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." 18 U.S.C. § 1591(e)(3). He principally argues that to qualify as a "commercial sex act," there must be a monetary or financial component to the "[ ]thing of value" that is given or received, and the sexual exploitation must be for profit. We conclude that the statute has no such requirement. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the District Court's judgment concerning his sex trafficking convictions.²

I. BACKGROUND³

In or around 2003, Raniere founded an organization called NXIVM, a self-styled executive coaching and self-help organization. New members paid thousands of dollars to attend self-help workshops. NXIVM members referred to Raniere as "Vanguard."

In 2015, Raniere created the secret society "DOS," which was structured as a pyramid, with Raniere at the head, followed by first-line "masters" and their subordinate "slaves." "Slaves" were expected to be obedient to their "masters."

Apart from Raniere, all DOS members were women. And Raniere's identity as the head of DOS was initially concealed from newly recruited "slaves," who were told that the organization was a "women's-only secret society."

DOS "masters" recruited slaves mostly from NXIVM and targeted women who were experiencing difficulties in their lives. To join, DOS recruits were required to provide "collateral" to prove their commitment to the organization. "Collateral" took many forms, including sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves, rights to financial assets, and letters containing damaging accusations—whether true or untrue—about family members and friends.

DOS "slaves" were expected to provide their "masters" with services called "acts of care," which included buying them groceries, editing videos, cleaning, and organizing. Each "slave" was expected to provide about an hour of work per week for her "master" as her "normal contribution." In some cases, "masters" assigned their "slaves" to engage in sexual conduct with Raniere and implied that collateral might be released if the slaves refused. DOS "slaves" were also required to be branded with a symbol that, unbeknownst to them, consisted of Raniere's initials. During the branding ceremony, participants were normally required to be nude and to say, "Master[,] please brand me. It would be an honor, an honor that I want to wear for the [re]st of my life."

Allison Mack—a DOS "master" and one of Raniere's co-defendants who pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy—recruited Nicole⁴ to join DOS as a "slave" in February 2016. As part of that process, Mack asked that Nicole provide "collateral." Nicole provided a series of letters she wrote falsely alleging sexual abuse by her father and other damaging accusations, as well as a sexually explicit video of herself. She was later required to provide additional "collateral," including credit card authorizations and the right to her grandmother's wedding ring.

Mack subsequently "assigned" Nicole to contact Raniere and tell him that she would do "anything that he asked." On May 31, 2016—while Nicole and Mack were together in Mack's house—Raniere called Mack, and Mack instructed Nicole to go outside so that Nicole would meet Raniere "across the grass" from the house's backdoor. Raniere subsequently blindfolded Nicole, led her into a car, and drove her to a house. He then led Nicole—still blindfolded—through some trees and inside a building. There, he instructed her to undress and tied her to a table. Another person in the room, whose identity was unknown to Nicole, performed oral sex on Nicole. Nicole subsequently told Mack about the incident, and Mack called Nicole "really brave."

Nicole had additional sexual encounters with Raniere during her time as a DOS "slave." Mack regularly required Nicole and other "slaves" to pose for nude photographs, including close-up photographs of their genitalia. Nicole also performed uncompensated work for Mack, including transcribing tapes and reviewing articles.

Mack also recruited another "slave," India, who in turn recruited a second-order "slave" named Jay. Jay provided "collateral" to India, including a sex tape and a video describing abuse to which she was subjected as a child. She provided further "collateral" on a monthly basis.

Jay was required to perform uncompensated services for Mack, including cleaning her house, doing her laundry, and picking up her groceries. She was also required to transcribe certain videos without compensation. In addition, Mack gave Jay a "special assignment" to "seduce" Raniere and "have him take a naked picture" of Jay; Jay understood this assignment to include having sex with Raniere. Jay refused to carry out the assignment and decided to leave DOS.

After Raniere and several members of his "inner circle" were indicted, each of Raniere's co-defendants pleaded guilty to various crimes. Following a six-week jury trial before Judge Garaufis, Raniere was convicted of: racketeering conspiracy (Count 1); racketeering (Count 2); forced labor conspiracy (Count 3); wire fraud conspiracy (Count 4); sex trafficking conspiracy (Count 5); sex trafficking of Nicole (Count 6); and attempted sex trafficking of Jay (Count 7).⁵ In support of their guilty finding for Count 2, the jury found that the Government had proved that Raniere had engaged in all of the alleged racketeering acts: four acts of conspiracy to commit identity theft, two acts of identity theft, conspiracy to unlawfully possess an identification document, two acts of sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography, conspiracy to alter records for use in an official proceeding, trafficking for labor and services, document servitude,⁶ extortion, sex trafficking of Nicole, and forced labor.⁷ The District Court sentenced Raniere principally to 120 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

II. DISCUSSION

We dispose of most of Raniere's arguments on appeal in a summary order filed simultaneously herewith. We write separately in this opinion to address Raniere's argument that a "commercial sex act"—statutorily defined as "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person," 18 U.S.C. § 1591(e)(3) —must involve the exchange of monetary or financial benefits. We first address the statutory text before turning to Raniere's specific challenges.

A. "Commercial Sex Act"

Congress enacted the statute at the center of this appeal, 18 U.S.C. § 1591, as part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 ("TVPA"), Pub. L. No. 106-386, 114 Stat. 1464 (2000). In passing the TVPA, Congress's purpose was "to combat trafficking in persons, a contemporary manifestation of slavery whose victims are predominantly women and children, to ensure just and effective punishment of traffickers, and to protect their victims." 22 U.S.C. § 7101(a).

In relevant part, Section 1591 provides for punishment of any individual:

(a) Who[ ] knowingly—

(1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, ... recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits by any means a person; or

(2) benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in violation of paragraph (1),

[while also] knowing[ ] ... that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion ..., or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, ....

18 U.S.C. § 1591(a) (emphasis added).

Section 1591 goes on to define a ...