This series is a day-by-day, witness-by-witness account of the federal trial of Keith Raniere, founder of NXIVM, tried in May and June 2019 before Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in the Eastern District of New York.
May 7, 2019 — United States Courthouse, Brooklyn, New York
At 9:35 a.m. on a Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, U.S. Marshals escorted Keith Raniere — the man who styled himself as the smartest human alive, a self-proclaimed ethicist and spiritual guide — into the courtroom of Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis to stand trial.
He arrived five minutes late — not that he had any say in the matter. Raniere was a pretrial detainee at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The Marshals controlled when he moved and when he arrived.
Judge Garaufis noted the tardiness anyway, remarking later that “maybe tomorrow we’ll start at 9:00, but then the defendant didn’t get here until seconds ago.”
Garaufis dealt with housekeeping. Alternate Juror No. 4 had signed up for summer courses at Queensborough Community College after being selected. The judge told her she was obligated to serve.
The court deputy reported that Juror No. 9 said his wife was “giving him a hard time” and he couldn’t serve. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo was amused: “‘The wife is giving me a hard time’ excuse —”
Garaufis said, “I just can’t let jurors out because their wife doesn’t want them to serve on the jury.”
Rather than bring the juror into open court with both sides present, Garaufis took Juror No. 9 into the robing room alone. When he returned, the story came out.
The juror’s estranged wife had stage 4 cancer. When she was in chemotherapy, no one could pick up their six-year-old son from school in the Bronx.
“Why didn’t you just tell us this?” the judge had asked him. “You would have been excused.”
Garaufis excused him and seated Alternate No. 1.
The Realtime Fight
There was also the question of whether Raniere could follow sidebar conferences in real time through a live transcript feed. The defense had money — from an irrevocable trust — but the trust’s controllers had not approved the expense.
“Is there money to pay for it?” the judge asked.
“There’s money to pay for it,” Agnifilo replied. “We didn’t get clearance from the trust.”
“Well, do I care?”
“No. And if Your Honor orders it, Your Honor orders it.”
Garaufis ordered it.
The defense and prosecution fought over what had to be shared and when. The defense had filed roughly 250 pages of materials it planned to use in cross-examination. The government wanted to see them in advance. Garaufis ruled the materials were impeachment evidence. That meant the defense did not have to disclose them in advance. But he ordered the defense to turn them over after direct examination so prosecutors could review them before cross began.
Agnifilo went further. He offered that if the judge allowed the contested materials, the prosecution should be able to raise them on direct rather than have them land as surprises on cross. “I think it’s fair,” he said.
The Jury
The jury filed in. Judge Garaufis introduced himself, adding about his robe: “Today I am wearing my judicial robe, but I may not wear it every day, and that is because I don’t find robes particularly comfortable, not because I don’t consider this case to be important.”
He introduced the parties. Prosecutors Moira Penza, Tanya Hajjar, and Mark Lesko for the United States. FBI Special Agents Michael Lever and Michael Weniger. Paralegal Teri Carby.
“There is one defendant in this case: Keith Raniere. Please stand, Mr. Raniere.”
Raniere stood. Garaufis told the jury not to speculate about why Raniere was the only defendant on trial. Five co-defendants had already pleaded guilty.
He read the charges.
Count One — Racketeering conspiracy
Count Two — Racketeering (14 predicate acts including identity theft, visa fraud, forced labor, sex trafficking, extortion, money laundering, sexual exploitation of a child, and possession of child pornography)
Count Three — Forced labor conspiracy
Count Four — Wire fraud conspiracy
Count Five — Sex trafficking conspiracy
Count Six — Sex trafficking
Count Seven — Attempted sex trafficking
The alleged crimes spanned from 2003 to March 2018, fifteen years.
“The defendant Keith Raniere has pleaded not guilty to all of the counts charged against him,” Garaufis told the jury. “You must, therefore, presume that Keith Raniere is not guilty of the crimes charged in the indictment.”
The housekeeping was finished. The jury was seated. The charges had been read. Twelve anonymous citizens — escorted by armed marshals — were told they must presume Keith Raniere innocent.
Next: The prosecution’s opening statement. Part 2 of Day 1.
