Former TV actress Allison Mack was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves within the NXIVM organization.
Mack — best known for her role as a young Superman’s close friend on the series "Smallville" — appeared in front of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in Brooklyn federal court.
At her sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, Mack renounced the self-improvement guru.
"I made choices I will forever regret," she said, also telling the judge she was filled with "remorse and guilt."
"I am sorry to those of you that I brought into NXIVM," she wrote in a letter filed with the court last week. "I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man."
She reiterated her apologies to the victims in court on Wednesday: "From the deepest part of my heart and soul, I am sorry."
ALLISON MACK GETS JUNE SENTENCING DATE IN NXIVM CASE; NEIGHBOR AND FORMER MEMBER REACT
Actress Allison Mack departs the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse after facing charges regarding sex trafficking and racketeering related to the Nxivm cult case in New York, U.S., April 8, 2019. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo)
Mack wept at times while reading her statement to the court. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis told her he believed her apology was sincere, but said she deserved a serious sentence for becoming "a willing and proactive ally" of Raniere.
A victim, Jessica Joan, rejected Mack's apologies, telling the judge Wednesday that the actor deserved no mercy.
"She can blame Keith all she wants but she is a monster cut from the same cloth," Joan said. "Allison Mack is a predator and an evil human being."
Mack's sentencing was a long time coming, as the former actress was arrested in April 2018 on federal charges for her involvement in NXIVM, led by convicted leader Keith Raniere. She pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in April 2019.
Devoting herself to the self-improvement guru "was the biggest mistake and greatest regret of my life," she wrote in a letter filed with the court last week.
"I am sorry to those of you that I brought into NXIVM," she wrote. "I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man."
CATHERINE OXENBERG SAYS SHE'S 'FILLED WITH ANXIETY' AHEAD OF ALLISON MACK'S SENTENCING
Her defense team previously argued in court papers that probation or a sentence to home confinement would be more appropriate for the actress. The applicable advisory guidelines range for her crimes was 168 months (14 years) to 210 months (17 and a half years) behind bars.
German -born American TV actress Allison Mack(C) arrives at Brooklyn Federal Court on June 30, 2021 in New York, to be sentenced for her role in the alleged sex cult NXIVM. (IMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
"The NXIVM saga and the story of Ms. Mack’s descent have been a tragedy for all involved. But that need not, and should not, be the end of the story for Allison Mack," her lawyers wrote in court papers.
"Ms. Mack now understands that this was the best thing that could have happened to her at that time," the defense papers said.
NXIVM was a company that claimed to offer self-help and professional development services and seminars, but has been widely described as cult-like, which saw Raniere groom young women as "slaves" under a "Dominus Obsequious Sororium" or "DOS" sub-society. Prosecutors said Mack became a "master" for "slaves" within DOS and ordered the females "to perform labor, take nude photographs, and in some cases, to engage in sex acts with Raniere."
In a sentencing memo filed last week, the government asked the Eastern District of New York to "impose a sentence below the otherwise applicable advisory Guidelines range" due to Mack's "assistance" in the case. U.S. attorneys revealed that the 38-year-old was cooperative with authorities, previously providing the government with audio recordings of Raniere discussing a "branding" ritual performed on his victims whom he groomed as "slaves."
Mack provided information to prosecutors about how Raniere encouraged "the use of demeaning and derogatory language, including racial slurs, to humiliate ‘slaves,’" the government papers also said.
In this Dec. 6, 2018, file photo, television actress Allison Mack leaves federal court in New York. Prosecutors say the purported self-help group called NXIVM formed a secret society of women who had unwanted sex with guru Keith Raniere. Raniere and three co-defendants including heiress Clare Bronfman and TV actress Allison Mack have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and other charges in the sex-trafficking case. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Actress Catherine Oxenberg's daughter India alleged last year that Mack instructed her to "seduce" Raniere and forced her to hand over nude photos as "collateral" as part of a blackmail scheme. India said that should she not follow through with Mack's demands, she could be punished with cold showers, extreme calorie restriction and more.
Mack's sentencing comes after the actress served three years under house arrest at her parent's home in California.
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The U.S Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York officially scheduled her June 30 sentencing date in May, prompting reaction from Mack's former neighbors and ex-NXIVM members.
"Finally!" a former neighbor of Mack's told Fox News last month. "I'd like to see her get seven years."
Along with Clare Bronfman, heiress of the Seagrams liquor empire, Mack and other defendants were arrested in 2018 and accused of having helped operate a criminal enterprise for self-help guru Keith Raniere, who was charged with sex trafficking. Mack pleaded guilty to charges she manipulated women into becoming sex slaves for the groups spiritual leader. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Toni Natalie, a former NXIVM member and girlfriend of Raniere, also told Fox News at the time that while she was glad to see Mack get her day in court, she's still waiting on co-defendant Nancy Salzman to be sentenced.
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Raniere was sentenced last year to 120 years in prison for his conviction on sex-trafficking charges. Mack was told to surrender to prison Sept. 29.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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