Judge Nicholas Garaufis has denied Nancy Salzman’s motion to have her ankle monitor removed and her curfew lifted as she awaits sentencing for her part in the Nxivm racketeering enterprise. According to the New York Post, the judge gave no explanation and simply wrote “Application Denied.”
Testimony during the Nxivm trial did not put Nancy in a favorable light. On May 20 in the trial, Nancy’s daughter Lauren Salzman — who it should be noted hid Keith Raniere’s involvement in the DOS ‘sorority’ from her mother — testified that her mother reacted ‘horribly’ in reaction to mass defections from Nxivm because of the public exposure of DOS. Nancy was angry that a group of women who “impulsively didn’t think things through,” had decided to brand Keith’s initials next to their vaginas and give seduction assignments, Lauren testified. “And she was like how could you do this?” How could Lauren and others in DOS put “everything that we’ve worked for, for 20 years in jeopardy?” Nancy blamed her daughter and the other women for destroying her company.
In an Artvoice article, former Nxivm consultant turned ‘enemy’ Joe O’Hara described his impressions of Nancy Salzman. Salzman had given invited guests to her birthday party a list of gifts she would like to receive, “Kind of like a wedding registry list — but with only high-end items on it.” The lavish party, which O’Hara was told cost the Bronfman sisters more than $250,000, featured a live performance by Joan Osbourne and The Funk Brothers. O’Hara writes that Kathy Russell later, a Nxivm bookkeeper who also pleaded guilty, told him, “Nancy was a ‘little disappointed’ with her gifts because she had not received some of the top items on her list.”
In a search of Nancy’s property on March 27, 2018, FBI agents found more than $520,000 in cash secreted in shoe boxes and shopping bags. However, in her allocution, when she spoke in court as she pleaded guilty, Nancy expressed remorse for her actions. She was sorry for the trouble she caused her daughter, and the pain she caused her parents. She accepted that she had done things that were criminal, and said that by pleading guilty she would “begin atoning for my actions and to start the next part of my life.” Nancy Salzman recently had serious health issues, which may have changed her perspective.
We can only speculate as to the reasons for the judges decision, and obviously he is privy to information we have no access to. But based on publicly available accounts, we leave it to the reader to decide if the judge made the right call.
Judge Garaufis also denied a motion from Keith Raniere, requesting an extension of time, from July 10 to July 30, to file post-trial motions. And like her mother, Lauren Salzman was also denied a similar request for more lenient conditions.
— Dianne Lipson
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 11, 2019 at 19:40
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Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He’s written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology’s harassment of Paulette Cooper titled ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely,’ and more recently a compilation of his stories, ‘Battlefield Scientology.’ He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world, as well as other subjects at The Underground Bunker. You can reach him by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you’d like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.)
