Seagram’s heiress set for hard time
Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman — who used her family fortune to help fund the notorious Nxivm cult — is set to become the first person sentenced in the sordid saga Wednesday.
The daughter of late Canadian billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court last year to charges related to her role as a top cohort of group svengali Keith Raniere.
The 41-year-old fallen socialite faces 30 months behind bars under federal sentencing guidelines for conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain and fraudulent use of identification. Prosecutors, though, are asking for twice that, noting the extreme privilege Bronfman came from, not to mention her lack of remorse.
“Bronfman did not commit these crimes out of need,” Brooklyn prosecutors wrote of a blistering sentencing memo earlier this month. “She is likely one of the most privileged and wealthy defendants to ever appear before this court for sentencing.”
Bronfman’s role at the right side of self-help-guru-turned-sex-trafficker Raniere included bringing young women into the country illegally, prosecutors say. She also threatened Raniere’s victims and foes into silence, according to court papers.
Bronfman’s lawyers are seeking three years’ probation for their client, who has been under house arrest at her luxury city apartment.
Raniere and three other cohorts, including former “Smallville’’ TV actress Allison Mack, still await sentencing for their crimes.