Allison Mack has issued a statement ahead of her June 30 sentencing for her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult. Photo / Getty Images
Allison Mack has issued a statement ahead of her June 30 sentencing for her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult. Photo / Getty Images
US actress Allison Mack has issued a lengthy statement over her involvement in the infamous NXIVM sex cult.
In rare comments ahead of her sentencing on June 30, the Smallville star said the cult was the "biggest mistake and regret of my life", after pleading guilty in 2019 to racketeering charges relating to her manipulation of women into the sex cult.
She was believed to be second-in-charge to the cult's ringleader, Keith Raniere, who was sentenced to 120 years' jail in October last year.
In a new letter obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Mack addressed "those who have been harmed by my actions", which accompanied sentencing guideline recommendations from her lawyers.
"It is now of paramount importance for me to say, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry," Mack, 38, wrote.
Allison Mack attends court in 2018. Photo / Getty Images
"I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had. I believed, wholeheartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him. This was the biggest mistake and regret of my life."
Mack, who faces a minimum of 15 years in jail, has been under house arrest in her parent's California home since 2019, where she was unable to use her phone or the internet.
A memo from her lawyers asked for no jail time for Mack, claiming she recognised her wrongdoings and had "committed grievous wrongs and that she has earned her punishment".
They added Mack had "publicly denounced Raniere (and her own prior association with Raniere) in the strongest possible terms".
Her lawyers continued: "That is made clear by Mack's plea allocution, her decision to co-operate completely and fully with the government, and is further underscored in her letter to this court as well as her efforts to demonstrate her remorse to the public generally and more specifically to those she harmed. There is thus no need to impose an additional sentence of incarceration on Mack to achieve specific deterrence."
Mack was arrested in 2018, charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and forced labour. She pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy and admitted to state law extortion and forced labour.
Mack further wrote in her letter: "I am sorry to those of you that I brought into NXIVM. I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man," she wrote.
"I am sorry that I encouraged you to use your resources to participate in something that was ultimately so ugly. I do not take lightly the responsibility I have in the lives of those I love and I feel a heavy weight of guilt for having misused your trust, leading you down a negative path."
Allison Mack's involvement with NXIVM cult
NXIVM was founded in 1998 by Raniere and Nancy Salzman, branded as a self-improvement group.
After Mack joined NXIVM in 2010, the actress, who shot to fame in Smallville in 2001, worked her way up in the ranks, eventually becoming a high-powered member who recruited other women into the organisation.
Allison Mack and NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. Photo / YouTube
In her role with NXIVM, Mack helped run Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS – Latin for master over slave women), a subgroup of the organisation that was marketed as a women's empowerment group.
Mack recruited women to the group, where they had to submit "collateral" (blackmail information to prevent members from talking about the group), were hit with paddles, had to starve themselves to reach Raniere's ideal weight, were pressured to have sex with him, and were branded with the cult's signature sign, a blend of Raniere's initials.
