Allison Mack, the actor previously known for her role on Smallville, received a three-year prison sentence in federal court for her part in the NXIVM sex cult case on Wednesday morning. The sentencing comes eight months after cult leader Keith Raniere received 120 years in prison for sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, racketeering ,wire fraud conspiracy, and racketeering conspiracy.
Officials arrested Mack in 2018 after she and Raniere absconded to Mexico with several other cult members. They were arrested outside Puerto Vallarta.
“I made choices I will forever regret,” Mack told the judge.
Prosecutors argued that Mack was one of the ringleaders of the cult and its secret circle of female members who served as “slaves” to “masters.” In some of the more disturbing rituals, members of this subset were encouraged by leaders like Mack to monitor their caloric intake and brand themselves with Raniere and Mack’s initials.
According to Variety, the prosecution against Mack requested leniency in sentencing the actor, stating that she was crucial to their case against Raniere. Mack provided prosecutors with an audio recording they believe helped convict Raniere. Mack spent 11 years inside the cult, during which she says that she was brainwashed into following Raniere’s “twisting influence.”
Among the other Raniere accomplices, Seagram Co. heiress Clare Bronfman received nearly seven years in prison for identity theft and fraud charges. In 2018, Bronfman—the daughter of Edgar Bronfman Sr., the late president of the Seagram’s liquor empire—pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges and was released on a $100 million bond. Raniere partners Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren Salzman await sentencing.
These members, as well as cult defectors, were the subject of two docuseries in 2020: HBO’s The Vow and Starz’s Seduced: Inside The NXIVM Cult. HBO announced that a second season of The Vow would debut later this year.