Where Is Keith Raniere Now? Inside the NXIVM Leader's Life After Being Sentenced to 120 Years in Prison

Six years ago, Keith Raniere was found guilty on seven criminal counts tied to his leadership of the NXIVM cult that embroiled a CW star, a billionaire heiress and the daughter of a Dynasty actress.

Authorities called NXIVM a "pyramid scheme" built on sexual exploitation and manipulation, describing it as "a cult-like organization involved in sex trafficking, child pornography, extortion, compelled abortions, branding, degradation and humiliation."

Actress Catherine Oxenberg raised alarm bells about the New York-based group, which billed itself as a center for coaching and mentorship, when her daughter, India, became involved. Soon, it was revealed that Allison Mack, who played Clark Kent's friend Chloe Sullivan in Smallville, recruited India and several other women, as well as underage girls, to be sex slaves for Raniere, who founded NXIVM.

Raniere insisted that all sexual relationships he had were with consenting adults and that the women involved were merely a sort of "sorority" that had developed within NXIVM. The court, however, disagreed, and he was sentenced to 120 years in prison for his crimes.

Here's everything to know about what happened within NXIVM and where Keith Raniere is now.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 26, 1960, to an advertising executive father and ballroom dancer mother, Raniere and his family moved to Suffern, N.Y., when he was a child. Raniere was advanced in science and math as a teen and left high school early to pursue higher education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

After college, Raniere worked as a computer programmer and consultant, per Vanity Fair, before launching his own multi-level marketing company, Consumers Buyline, in 1990. After regulators investigated the business for allegedly being a pyramid scheme, Raniere didn't admit wrongdoing but settled for $40,000. According to Forbes, he only paid $9,000 of that fine, despite claiming to be worth $50 million.

In 1998, Raniere founded Executive Success Programs (ESP) which later became NXIVM. The program began as a set of executive coaching and self-help seminars, which counted Richard Branson and BET co-founder Sheila Johnson among its early clients. The company was based in Albany, N.Y., but eventually expanded to have chapters as far as Mexico and Canada, according to The New York Times.

Within NXIVM, Raniere referred to himself as Vanguard. Some women within NXIVM told the Times that Raniere was warm and engaging, while others described him as litigious and manipulative.

What did Keith Raniere do?

In March 2018, Raniere was arrested in Mexico and charged with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

In June 2019, Raniere was found guilty of all charges, and details from his trial were harrowing.

Authorities claimed that a secret sect of NXIVM, called DOS (which stood for "Dominus Obsequious Sororium," or "Master Over Slave Women," per The Hollywood Reporter), operated like a pyramid scheme for sex slavery, with Raniere at the top and tiers of women and girls beneath him that could be "slaves" or "slave masters."

The women and girls in DOS were ordered to turn over "collateral," which was often in the form of potentially damaging personal information or nude and pornographic photos, which could later be used to blackmail them.

DOS "slaves" were groomed to starve themselves and not remove their pubic hair in order to appeal to Raniere, and were forced to have sex with him or face their "collateral" being exposed. The "slaves" were reportedly also sleep-deprived and underweight to the point that some, including India Oxenberg, stopped menstruating.

Who else was involved with NXIVM and DOS?

Mack pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering, one count of racketeering conspiracy, admitted to state law extortion and forced labor for her role in DOS. She was accused of accepting financial incentives to recruit new "slaves" for the group and allegedly said that branding victims was her idea.

In June 2021, Mack was sentenced to three years in prison and a $20,000 fine. While she'd been facing up to 40 years, prosecutors recommended the lesser sentence due to her cooperation with investigators.

Before her sentencing, Mack said in a statement, "I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had. I believed, whole-heartedly, that his 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 regret of my life."

She continued, "I am sorry to those of you that I brought into Nxivm. I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man."

In July 2023, Mack was released from Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., where Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman served their time for their roles in the college admissions scandal.

Mack's Smallville costar Kristin Kreuk was briefly a member of NXIVM, which she said was a means to overcome her "personal shyness," but denied ever seeing anything "illegal or nefarious." She was never accused of or charged with any crimes.

Seagram's liquor heiress Clare Bronfman was also charged with racketeering conspiracy in the NXIVM case. In April 2019, she pleaded guilty, and was sentenced in September 2020 to 81 months in prison, as well as a $500,000 fine and more than $96,000 in restitution to one of Raniere's victims.

Who did Keith Raniere have children with?

Raniere fathered children with two women, according to The New York Times. One of the women, Kristin Keeffe, testified at Raniere's sentencing that he never paid child support for their teenage son.

A former NXIVM follower also accused Raniere of impregnating three sisters and convincing them to get abortions, per court testimony reported by The Daily Beast; one of the sisters was just 15 years old when Raniere allegedly first raped her.

What was Keith Raniere's sentence?

About a week before his October 2020 sentencing, Raniere publicly spoke out for the first time in an interview on Dateline.

"One of the things that's most important in our country is the justice system. And although, you know, people can hate me and do, and think I'm an odious type of a character — you know, awful, actually — both the devil and a saint should be able to get the exact same treatment under our justice system," he said.

Raniere added that despite claiming to be innocent of the charges against him, he "clearly participated" in activities that caused "pain and suffering."

On Oct. 27, 2020, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in federal prison. After victims spoke at his sentencing, Raniere said they were lying, per the New York Post. He reportedly told the judge in the case, "I do feel deep remorse but I do not feel remorse for the crimes I didn't commit."

The following July, Raniere was also ordered to pay 21 of his victims a total of $3.46 million in restitution. Of that, $2,500 went to each of the women who were branded to cover removal costs, plus mental health services; one victim was awarded $500,000 for being forced to be branded, to have sex with Raniere and to pose for pornographic photos when she was just 15 years old.

Where is Keith Raniere now?

In January 2021, Raniere was transferred to United States Penitentiary Tucson (USP Tucson) from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the New York Post reported. USP Tucson is a maximum security federal prison with a sex offender management program, according to the Post, and has also housed former USA Gymnastics team doctor and serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar, as well as Elizabeth Smart's abductor Brian David Mitchell.

Raniere has attempted to overturn his conviction and secure a new trial three separate times, per the New York Post, but all of his efforts have been rejected. In one attempted appeal, Raniere reportedly accused the FBI of planting child pornography on his computer, an allegation prosecutors vehemently denied.

In September 2022, Raniere claimed to have been attacked in prison by a fellow inmate, per the New York Post.