The Charges in US v. Raniere
What were the charges for which Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years?
On June 19, 2019, Keith Raniere was found guilty of all seven counts he was tried for. The jury’s verdict sheet lists all the counts.
On October 27, 2020, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis sentenced Mr. Raniere to 120 years in prison. The judge’s sentencing order contains the breakdown for each count.
(Note that the numbering of the counts in the verdict sheet is different from that of the trial indictment. The judge used the numbering of the counts from the indictment in sentencing. The counts are the same, just the numbers are different.)
Below are the counts, using the numbering from the jury verdict sheet, and in parentheses are the sentence the judge imposed for each count:
Count 1: Racketeering Conspiracy (40 years)
Count 2: Racketeering (40 years)
Racketeering Acts:
1A: Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft - Ashana Chenoa
1B: Conspiracy to Unlawfully Possess Identification Document
2: Sexual Exploitation of a Child on November 2, 2005 - Camila
3: Sexual Exploitation of a Child on November 24, 2005 - Camila
4: Possession of Child Pornography
5A: Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft
5B: Identity Theft - James Loperfido
5C: Identity Theft - Edgar Bronfman
6: Conspiracy to Alter Records for Use in an Official Proceeding
7: Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft - Marianna
8A: Trafficking for Labor and Services - Daniela
8B: Document Servitude - Daniela
9: Extortion
10A: Sex Trafficking - Nicole
10B: Forced Labor - Nicole
11: Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft - Pamela Cafritz
Count 3: Forced Labor Conspiracy (20 years)
Count 4: Wire Fraud Conspiracy (20 years)
Count 5: Sex Trafficking Conspiracy (40 years)
Count 6: Sex Trafficking of Nicole (40 years)
Count 7: Attempted Sex Trafficking of Jay (40 years)
The jury found that the government had proven all counts, and all of the racketeering acts under Count Two, beyond a reasonable doubt.
In subsequent posts, we’ll look at the specifics of each count.