Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman on Friday pleaded guilty for her role in the upstate sex-slave cult Nxivm, in a deal that could see her locked up for years.
Shortly after, the group’s longtime bookkeeper also copped a plea in the case — leaving only Nxivm leader Keith Raniere to stand trial.
Bronfman wept softly in Brooklyn Federal Court as she pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to conceal and harbor an illegal alien for financial gain, and fraudulent use of identification.
“Your honor, I was afforded a great gift from my grandfather and father,” Bronfman said, but added that “privilege … does not come with the ability to break the law … It comes with a greater responsibility to uphold the law.”
Dressed in a cream-colored shirt, billowy pants and a blue and white scarf, the 40-year-old whiskey scion admitted that she “did harbor an individual” who she helped “live and work in our country in a way that would be undetectable.”
Prosecutors say Bronfman — a high-ranking member of Nxivm’s board who used her family fortune to help bankroll the group — aided Raniere in helping a foreigner enter the US and to pay off debts he racked up on the credit card of his dead girlfriend.
It wasn’t clear from Bronfman’s plea or indictment who the illegal immigrant was or where they came from.
She faces up to 25 years behind bars on both charges at her July 25 sentencing — although sentencing guidelines call for between 21 and 26 months — and will also have to forfeit $6 million and pay additional restitution to some victims.
As they left court, Bronfman’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said she didn’t have a cooperation agreement with the feds — but when asked if she would testify against Raniere he added, “she will comply with any lawful process”
Nxivm’s former accountant, Kathy Russell then pleaded guilty to visa fraud — admitting that in 2014, she “knowingly and intentionally presented a document to the U.S. consulate in Mexico” to suppose a visa for a woman named Loreta Garza Davila.
She said she falsely claimed that Garza worked for Nxivm, when really she “spent most of her time running and developing a separate company called Rainbow Cultural Garden.”
Rainbow Cultural Gardens is an international network of schools tied to Raniere, according to a Miami New Times report.
“I know what I did is wrong,” Russell told the judge before hanging her head for a long period.
She faces up to 10 years in the slammer, but guidelines call for six to 12 months.
Bronfman, Raniere, Russell, “Smallville” TV actress Allison Mack, Nxivm co-founder Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren Salzman were all arrested last year on various charges related to the Albany-area organization.
Among other things, prosecutors allege that Raniere created a secret master-slave group within Nxivm called DOS, where women were duped into handing over damaging collateral about themselves — and then were extorted into suffering through near-starvation diets, being “branded” with Raniere’s initials or being pressured to have sex with him.
Mack, Raniere’s purported right-hand woman, last week pleaded guilty to being one of the group’s masters, tearfully confessing that she forced slaves “to perform services for me.”
Lauren Salzman and her mom pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in March.
Russell’s is set for July 31.