Closing Arguments: Moira Penza Paints Portrait of Evil of ‘Crime Boss’ Raniere

In General

By Dianne Lipson

Closing arguments began today in the trial of Keith Alan Raniere.  The courtroom was packed with spectators and media and the overflow went to an auxiliary courtroom where they watched via closed-circuit TV monitors.

By the way, Raniere victims India Oxenberg, along with witnesses Nicole and Jaye were in the courtroom accompanied by their attorney Neil Glazer. Susan Dones was also spotted headed to the courtroom. As was Toni Natalie. [Reportedly, India’s mother, Catherine Oxenberg is also on hand.]

Raniere, wearing a maroon sweater over a white shirt, intently listened as Moira Kim Penza, for the prosecution, gave her closing arguments before a jury of 12 and five alternates.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who is 77 years old, sat on the bench and from my observations, he looks nowhere near his age.  After the jury’s verdict, Judge Garaufis – should Raniere be found guilty – will be the man who sentences him.

Assistant US Attorney Penza went right to the point in her closing – hammering Raniere – and this report covers the basics of what she said up until lunch break.

Penza made reference to DOS slave Nicole who was placed on a wooden table, blindfolded and not knowing who else was in the room, was a victim of sexual assault [by Camila].

Penza spoke of Daniela, alone in her room, with just a paper and pad [for two years].

She said, “You saw the defendant for what he was – a con man, a predator and a crime boss.”

“Raniere set up a criminal organization with a never-ending flow of women and money,” she said..

Penza pointed out that proving racketeering is not necessarily proving that the coconspirators are in the mob. She said this “enterprise” turned its victims into victimizers, for example, Camila sexually abusing Nicole.

Keith was the center of the enterprise. He participated in all the enterprise’s affairs.

Penza went through the racketeering acts:

Act 1: Transporting Daniela over the border.

Act 2-5r: Graphic photos of 15-year-old Camilla

Act 5. Trying to obtain usernames and passwords of Edgar Bronfman and James Loperfido.

Act 6: Altering a video used in the Rick Ross and Stephanie Franco case.

Act 7: Trying to obtain the username and password of Mariana.

Act 8: Daniella being confined in a room for two years.

Acts 9-10: Extorting property from DOS slaves.

Act 11: Visa fraud with Sylvie

Act 12 Sex trafficking of Nicole.

Act 13: Forced labor of Jane Doe 6

Act 14: Using Pam Cafritz’s American Express card after she died

Penza then went through Daniela’s story. of how she gave the $6,000 that she stole back, and how she felt Keith was the only person who was on her side. But later he used that to, among other things, get her to have sex with him.  Penza brought up their first sexual encounter. He acted as though he had penetrated her, but she knew he didn’t.  That was gaslighting and Daniela testified to other instances of gaslighting by Raniere.

She spoke of how, after Keith impregnated Daniela – after he had not allowed her to use birth control – Pam Cafrtiz paid for the abortion and made up a cover story. And how Pam left Daniela alone to have the painful abortion by herself.

Penza said that Dani’s parents were at fault for allowing this man [when she said “this man”] she turned around and pointed to Keith – “for letting that man convince them to put Dani in the room.”

But Penza said, “Make no mistake, he was in charge.”

Penza also said that in sex trafficking, she said she expected the judge to instruct the jury, the opportunity to escape is irrelevant to determine if someone is being trafficked.

She also said that the information that Daniela got from hacking Mariana, she gave to Keith.

She tied Keith into altering the videotape in the Ross case, showing that Keith participated in the conspiracy to alter the videotapes because he conspired with others to alter them.

She tied Keith into Clare Bronfman and their fraudulent use of the late Pam Cafrtiz’s Amex card.

There was an email instructing Clare to pay the Amex bill and she emails back [or messages] “oh, shit, let me figure this out.”

And there was an email saying that Keith was entitled to 10% of eso/exo.

Penza spoke of how Keith wanted Camila to come back to Albany when their parents weren’t there. How Camila worked as an aide for Nancy Salzman and how Keith isolated Camila so he could have access to her.

There’s a videotape of Nancy saying some female children are more emotionally mature than others making it OK for adults and mature children to have sex.

Then Penza related how, in 2014, Keith emailed Camila that he was proud to have been her husband for 8.75 years – which, if you do the math, shows they were ‘married’ when Cami was 16.

Penza spoke about forensic evidence showing exactly when the nude photos of Cami were taken – in November 2005 – when she was 15.

Then tying up another disturbing aspect of the case, Penza reminded the jury that Camila was supposed to find a successor, another virgin, for Keith after she ruined everything by having a liaison with Robbie.

Keith told Camila to have Rosa Laura Junco help her find a virgin successor and Penza basically tied that to the email where Rosa Laura offers her own teenage daughter as the successor.

Penza referred to the video of Nancy Salzman talking about underage sex and that Mexican girls were in the room when Nancy was talking about that.

Penza said, “I submit that Keith wanted those Mexican girls to hear those views [about underage sex].”

Penza said that DOS was not about female empowerment, but to satisfy Keith’s sexual appetite. She referenced how Keith spoke about how DOS could impact the presidential election in the United States if DOS got big enough. And added that DOS slaves would never have joined DOS if they knew Keith was the head of DOS. Or if they knew that there would a requirement for additional collateral and sex with Keith.

Penza said that Marc Agnifilo, Raniere’s attorney, said that the naked photos were not sexual, but, Penza said, “I submit the photos were for Keith’s sexual gratification and nothing else.”

She reminded the jury, who have seen scores of nude photos during this trial, that all the photos were of the same kind with similar poses.

Penza showed a video where Keith discusses “executing the collateral” if necessary.  And Penza explained that “executing the collateral” meant what it sounds like – releasing it – in the case of photos and videos, letters and confessions.

Stay tuned for a further report tonight.

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33 commentsOn Closing Arguments: Moira Penza Paints Portrait of Evil of ‘Crime Boss’ Raniere

  • Tubby will never have the chance to abuse another woman.

    That door is closed forever.

  • I say the verdict comes out Tuesday, NLT Wednesday.

    GUILTY ALL COUNTS

    • For clarity – did both arguments happen today? And I agree with Bangkok- Frank what did you think? My main concern was making back testimony to the actual crime. It appeared that happened. But your take would be huge.

    • orangecountydreams - OCD

      Fervently hope so, NoisyMouse.

  • I love that it is a smart, beautiful, young woman who is giving the closing argument. She is exactly the kind of woman that KAR targeted. Cosmic karma is a bitch.

  • So, this is it. Agnifilo did his closing argument and Raniere didn’t get to say a single word and will go back to his cell. This is sooo great.

    • orangecountydreams - OCD

      Raniere is a coward. He let his lawyer talk. Mark my words, KAR will sue him if convicted.

  • Looks like Moira’s been playing the long game. Good on her! Let’s hope it pays off, and KR wastes the rest of his life in prison.

  • Great article.

    I’d like to hear Frank’s interpretation of Penza’s closing argument, in terms of how well she broke everything down for the jury.

    Did Penza keep everything sweet, short and easy to understand?

    Did she go off on wild tangents? Did she connect the dots?

    Did she appear to really prove her points?

    What about Agnifilo?

    Did his points appear to be valid or was he trying to put lipstick on a pig?

    I’m not asking about how calm and friendly he was, since anybody can say that 2+2=7 with a friendly demeanor.

    I’m asking about how logical his points were and if any rational person might side with him.

    I want details, Frank.

    It’s bad enough that your lazy Italian ass missed most of Keith’s trial, which is quite odd since you spent the last 2 years exposing this guy.

    Yet you missed most of his fucken trial. You’re a real piece of work, Frank. That’s akin to a baseball manger missing the world series while his own team is playing in it.

    I expect good details, Frank. Otherwise kiss my ass.

  • Bottom line: he had something that dummy’s believed and in the process of being bored swindling dummy’s he had sex with a 12yr old. Then he wanted to recreate in his mind that original experience. Hence : skinny girls unshaved…preferably young and vulnerable.

    • orangecountydreams - OCD

      Well, creepy as it may sound, a lot of pedophiles like girls shaved to recreate the image of the pre-pubescent. So the full bush thing is perplexing.

      • I think things have reversed somewhat, in that, it seems incumbent upon women who are sexually and legally mature to go ‘brazilian’ or ‘hollywood’ thus the young sexually inactive are hairy as nature intended?

      • I see Raniere as being stuck sexually fixated at a stage somewhere mid-teens, when girls of that age would have developed pubic hair. His preferred style of photography of his women is what was typical of the “beaver shots” of the cruder Playboy copycat magazines of the era when he would have been that age, and when natural pubic hair was still in fashion.

        Even more pivotally to the matter of NXIVM, he also seems mentally stuck at about that same age, with an amateurish interest in philosophy but lacking a wholistic view of real adult life – and living like a perpetual teenager, eating pizza, playing midnight volleyball and then sleeping in.

      • OCD,

        Keith probably grew up on 70’s porno-mags back when women use to go native.

  • orangecountydreams - OCD

    I would have loved it if the video of Keith touting his illegal Consumer’s Buyline with Eddie Albert could have been played for the jury. In those days, a guru he was not. So, he only decided to “do good in the world” once his MLM collapsed? Hmmm.

  • And this is only 1/2 of it? Why would anyone wonder why the prosecution didn’t put Mack on the stand? She’d be easily discredited and with all this – why risk a Mack meltdown?

    Also, I suspect why the defense will not even present a case. Every further word from anyone at NXIVM just digs Raniere’s hole deeper.

    Is Agnifilo perhaps hoping for a mistrial or appeal? Still seems unusual to not present any defense with such high stakes. What’s the legal angle?

    • Agnifilo’s requests for a mistrial were both turned down – as was his motion for dismissal of the two RICO counts. But he has definitely teed-up several issues for a future appeal. In addition, Raniere will also be able to pursue a separate appeal based on “ineffective counsel”.

      One of the bases for a future appeal will be the fact that Raniere’s Mexican witnesses were not allowed to testify via closed-circuit TV. Nor would the prosecution guaranty them “safe passage” so they could testify in person without any chance of being arrested or indicted while they were in the U.S.

      If Agnifilo had put on any sort of defense and Raniere did not testify, the jury would have interpreted that as a sign of his guilt. And if Raniere did testify, he would have been destroyed on cross-examination.

      All in all, I think Agnifilo did the best he could with a crappy case – and a guilty client.

  • In my humble opinion, Moira Penza tied it (RICO Charges) all together for the jury.

    Unless there are some libertarian (anarchists with degrees) types on the jury, a conviction seems imminent ….

    ******
    Excellent reporting and great detail Village Diane. Such excellent reporting I have no questions.

    I actually was curious how with it the judge seemed.

  • Agnifilo's male lover-in-waiting

    Is Agnifilo taking the jury for a bunch of retarded turkeys? Around the world, there have been instances when attorneys have demonstrated to nurture precisely the same mindset as the criminals they have been covering up. This isn’t colossally new: “Nude photos are not sexual”. Yes, Agnifilo! Having sex with your mother, that isn’t abnormal, Marc! We love you! Marc! To make such statements in Court denotes complete lack of shame AND total contempt for anyone in the audience. What were the hallmark traits of psychopaths again??

  • Ave Moiree-a!!!

  • Moira Penza did an excellent job with the evidence and charges she had to work with.

    The other district prosecutors will have a much larger amount of actual physical evidence to work with than Penza had at her disposal.

  • Actually, Judge Garaufis is about 70, not 77, based on his age of 53 in 2002, the year he was married:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/style/weddings-elizabeth-seidman-nicholas-garaufis.html

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