TV actor Allison Mack, who played a key role in the scandal-ridden, cult-like group NXIVM, was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday on charges she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves for the group’s spiritual leader.
Mack — best known for her role as a young Superman’s close friend on the series “Smallville” — had previously pleaded guilty to the charges and was expected to seek credit for cooperating against NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and taking responsibility for helping him create a secret society of brainwashed women who were branded with his initials.
At her sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, Mack renounced the self-improvement guru.
“I made choices I will forever regret,” she said, also telling the judge she was filled with “remorse and guilt.”
Mack wept at times while reading her statement to the court. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis told her he believed her apology was sincere, but said she deserved a serious sentence for becoming “a willing and proactive ally” of Raniere.
Under advisory sentencing guidelines, Mack would face between 14 and 17 1/2 years behind bars, but her defense team argued in court papers that probation or a sentence to home confinement is more appropriate.
Prosecutors had agreed that any prison term should be below the guidelines range because of her cooperation.
Mack, 38, was once part of the inner circle of Raniere, whose group attracted millionaires and actors among its adherents.
Prosecutors said she became a “master” for “slaves” she ordered “to perform labor, take nude photographs, and in some cases, to engage in sex acts with Raniere.”
As authorities closed in on Raniere, he fled to Mexico with Mack and others to try to reconstitute the group there.
He was arrested and sent to the U.S. in 2018. Mack was arrested a few days later.
Mack provided information to prosecutors about how Raniere – now 60 – encouraged "the use of demeaning and derogatory language, including racial slurs, to humiliate ‘slaves,’” government papers said.
More importantly, she provided a recording of a conversation she had with Raniere about the branding, they added.
Raniere was sentenced last year to 120 years in prison for his conviction on sex-trafficking charges. Mack was told to surrender to prison on September 29.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press.
