Keith Raniere

Keith Allen Raniere ( ran-YAIR-ee; born August 26, 1960) is an American cult leader who was convicted of a pattern of racketeering activity, including human trafficking, sex offenses, and fraud. Raniere co-founded NXIVM, a purported self-help multi-level marketing company offering personal development seminars and headquartered in Albany, New York. Operating from 1998 to 2018, NXIVM had 700 members at its height, including celebrities and the wealthy. Within NXIVM, Raniere was referred to as "Vanguard". Scholars in the fields of religious studies, law, and sociology describe NXIVM as a cult. Mental health professionals and cult experts such as Rick Alan Ross, Diane Benscoter, and Steve Hassan have called Raniere a cult leader who manipulates and exerts coercive control over his followers. Multiple women have said they were sexually abused by Raniere, including three who have reported being underage at the time of the abuse. In 2018, reports of abuse related to a secret society within NXIVM, known as "DOS" or "the Vow", led to the arrests of Raniere and five other NXIVM associates. On June 19, 2019, a jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted Raniere of racketeering for a pattern of crimes, including the sexual exploitation of a child, sex trafficking of women, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. The court received more than 100 victim impact statements detailing the harm Raniere caused. On October 27, 2020, Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced Raniere to 120 years incarceration and a $1.75 million fine.