The HBO series "The Vow" wrapped up its second season this week with a chronicling of events and players surrounding the sentencings of NXIVM leaders Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman. Both are currently serving prison sentences for crimes that include sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and racketeering.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," we're joined by Moira Penza, the lead prosecutor in Raniere's trial, to discuss the final episode of "The Vow," and...

The testimony of a women shunned by the NXIVM community and confined to a room in a suburban townhouse for two years was the focus of an episode in the second season of HBO's "The Vow." The witness, identified only as Daniela, took the stand for several days during former NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's trial in 2019. She detailed a pattern of years of grooming and manipulation by Raniere, who ordered her confinement in 2010 after she admitted to kissing another man. On this episode of "NXIVM...

Lauren Salzman's gut-wrenching testimony in the trial of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere took center stage in the fourth episode of the new season of HBO's "The Vow." Salzman's account painted an emotionally disturbing and revealing picture of Raniere's pervasive pattern of physical and emotional abuse of women in the organization—including holding their fertility hostage, forcing them into group sex acts, and gaslighting.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler,...

The third episode of the second season of HBO's "The Vow" explores NXIVM's unchecked claim to have used its programming to cure patients with Tourette Syndrome.  On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union editor Casey Seiler, producer Jessica Marshall, and reporter Robert Gavin discuss the episode, and how the organization's experiment with Tourette Syndrome affected former members of the organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NXIVM co-founder and “Prefect” Nancy Salzman takes center stage in the second episode of the new season of HBO’s “The Vow.” We hear from her for the first time since the NXIVM organization fell. Salzman, who pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges connected to NXIVM, is currently serving a three and one half-year prison sentence. In this episode of “NXIVM on Trial,” Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, reporter Robert Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall discuss Salzman’s interview and...

The six-part, second season of HBO’s documentary series “The Vow” continues to track the downfall of NXIVM, the purported self-help organization based in upstate New York. The new installment of the series follows the trial and sentencing of its leader, Keith Raniere, and features a first-time interview with NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman. Both are now serving prison sentences. On this episode of “NXIVM on Trial,” Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, reporter Robert Gavin and producer Jessica...

A federal judge sentenced NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman to three and a half years in prison this week. She was the last of the major players charged in criminal court in the NXIVM saga to receive a sentence. In the courtroom, eight of Salzman's victims described her as a cold, calculating enabler and enforcer for cult leader Keith Raniere. Judge Nicholas Garaufis admonished the 67-year-old Halfmoon resident, saying her actions "left trauma and destruction in your wake.”  On this episode of...

Last month a federal judge spared high-ranking NXIVM defector Lauren Salzman any prison time. Judge Nicholas Garaufis also sharply questioned why authorities in the Capital Region failed to bring a criminal case against Keith Raniere and what he termed the "NXVIM sex cult," despite abundant evidence of wrongdoing. On this episode of "NXIVM on Trial," Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and criminal justice reporter Robert Gavin discuss Salzman’s sentence, the judge's admonition, and her mother,...

A federal judge sentenced Allison Mack to three years in prison this week for her role supplying sex "slaves" to NXIVM leader Keith Raniere. During the sentence hearing in a Brooklyn courtroom, one of Mack's victims compared her to Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged enabler of late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Times Union justice reporter Rob Gavin and producer Jessica Marshall traveled to Brooklyn for the former "Smallville" actress' sentencing. On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, they...

Former television actress and high-ranking NXIVM member Allison Mack awaits sentencing this week for crimes involving Keith Raniere's cult organization. Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges in April 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced June 30. In a sentencing memo last week, she distanced herself from Raniere, calling him "a twisted man." On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, former NXIVM coach Tabby Chapman shares her own experiences with Mack, with whom...

The now-convicted NXIVM ringleader Keith Raniere is tucked away in federal prison, likely for the rest of his life. High-ranking members of his inner circle still await sentence hearing dates. And a small faction of former members remain loyal to Raniere as he attempts to clear his name on appeal.  The ongoing NXIVM saga is the focus of former VICE senior editor and Vancouver-based investigative reporter Sarah Berman's new book, “Don’t Call it a Cult.” In it, she takes a three-part dive into...

For Sarah Edmondson and Anthony "Nippy" Ames, life after NXIVM has been busy. The whistleblowers were heavily featured in the HBO Documentary "The Vow," Sarah wrote a book, and now they've started a new podcast together called "A Little Bit Culty," focused on cult psychology and the stories of survivors. Through it all, they say they're focused on their family, healing from the emotional trauma that the last decade has wrought on their lives, and helping others overcome similar traumas.  On...

Former NXIVM leader Keith Raniere is now in federal prison in Arizona, planning the appeal of his 120-year sentence with a new attorney who once defended Bill Cosby. On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and reporter Robert Gavin discuss the latest developments in the NXIVM saga, including Raniere's new residence, a reported letter sent to former President Donald Trump seeking a pardon for Raniere, and an episode of CNBC's "American Greed" that features the...

The sentencing of Keith Raniere and Clare Bronfman capped off a long year of delays, documentaries and major developments in the NXIVM saga. As the end of 2020 nears, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and reporter Robert Gavin look back at what transpired in the past year, and what's likely to come in 2021. Could Allison Mack face sentencing? Mack, Nancy Salzman and others still await their fate. And what of the group of determined "NXIVM dead-enders" who remain faithful to Keith...

A federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced NXIVM leader Keith Raniere to 120 years in prison this week, following several hours of statements from victims who leveled words like monster, predator, parasite and terrorist at the man whose crimes included the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old Mexican girl. In this episode, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler, Managing Editor Brendan Lyons and Courts reporter Rob Gavin discuss the event that sealed the downfall of the Saratoga County-based guru who cloaked...

NXIVM leader Keith Raniere is finally facing his sentencing in Federal court in Brooklyn in a few short days. Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and reporter Rob Gavin discuss the potential outcome, and take a retrospective look at why Raniere and his co-defendants' cases were tried downstate rather in than in their Capital Region backyard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India Oxenberg did not intend to become a “slave” or a television celebrity's “pet” in a strange city on the other side of the country from her family’s home in southern California. Yet the daughter of actress Catherine Oxenberg spent seven years entrenched in Keith Raniere's cult-like organization, NXIVM. She was branded with Raniere's initials as a member of the secret female "master/slave" group called DOS. She left NXIVM after Raniere's arrest in 2018, and is now speaking out about her...

Seagram's heiress and NXIVM financier Clare Bronfman was sentenced to more than six years in prison this week, following an hours-long hearing before a judge in Brooklyn during which victims read emotionally charged impact statements. Bronfman had pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and forced labor related to her role in the shadowy organization known as NXIVM. Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and reporter Rob Gavin discuss the first in what is to become a "season" of sentencing that will...

As Keith Raniere's October 27 sentencing nears, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and courts reporter Robert Gavin discuss several developments in the NXIVM saga. That includes a revelation that Raniere recently told a loyal NXIVM disciple that he wanted to "get scrutiny" on Judge Nicholas Garaufis, and Seagrams' heiress Clare Bronfman's refusal to disavow NXIVM and Raniere as she stands convicted of NXIVM-related crimes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NXIVM founder Keith Raniere faces sentencing October 27 for his 2019 conviction on federal charges of sex trafficking, conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. NXIVM whistleblower Toni Natalie and cult expert Rick Ross played large roles in the investigation that led to Raniere's downfall as head of the shadowy organization. On this episode of NXIVM on Trial, hear the second half of a 2019 conversation between Natalie, Ross and Senior Editor Brendan Lyons at the Times Union's...

On the eve of what would have been a week-long celebration of the birthday of disgraced former leader of NXIVM Keith Raniere, HBO's new documentary series "The Vow" will premiere the first of nine episodes looking back at the organization and the downfall of its leader. The series, which will air weekly, coincidentally times out to conclude in tandem with Raniere's long-delayed October 27 sentencing.  In this episode of NXIVM on Trial, Times Union Editor Casey Seiler and reporter Robert...

Every night since July 3, a group of people turn on music and dance on the street outside Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. The group that organized the dancing say it's meant to support federal inmates during the pandemic, including one in particular: Kay Rose. There is, however, no inmate by that name in the Brooklyn facility — or anywhere else in the federal prison population, for that matter. But "Kay Rose" shares the initials of someone who has spent the past two years in the...

Times Union editor Brendan Lyons moderates a conversation between NXIVM whistleblower Toni Natalie and cult expert Rick Ross. The episode highlights their personal interactions with NXIVM and its founder, Keith Raniere, who was convicted this summer on federal charges of sex trafficking, conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Ross and Natalie shine a light on the inner workings of NXIVM and Lyons offers his own insights covering the shadowy organization.   Learn more about your...

Times Union managing editor Casey Seiler assembles the newspaper's NXIVM beat writers, Robert Gavin and Brendan Seiler, for an update on the shadowy cult since its leader, Keith Raniere, was found guilty of federal racketeering charges and more.  The conversation addresses a lawsuit against NXIVM, the potential prison sentences for members of the cult and a made-for-television movie debuting in September. The episode also explores the doctor who had his medical license revoked by the...