Smallville alum Allison Mack pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges on Monday, April 8, in connection to the NXIVM sex cult, Us Weekly can confirm.
The star was indicted on multiple counts of sex-trafficking, sex-trafficking conspiracy and conspiracy to commit forced labor in the case after allegedly recruiting women to be slaves of Keith Raniere, the leader of a sex- trafficking cult within New York-based marketing firm NXIVM known as DOS. She was also accused of identity fraud and money laundering.
“As alleged in the indictment, Allison Mack recruited women to join what was purported to be a female mentorship group that was, in fact, created and led by Keith Raniere,” United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “The victims were then exploited, both sexually and for their labor, to the defendants’ benefit.”
The actress, 36, was arrested on April 20, 2018. She was later released on a $5 million bond and placed on house arrest.
Mack had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Honey We Shrunk Ourselves star’s decision to change her plea comes after NXIVM cofounder Nancy Salzman’s daughter, Lauren Salzman, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy on March 29.
Nancy, 65, also pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on March 13.
According to the court documents obtained by Us Weekly in April 2018, Mack recruited women into NXIVM by describing it as “a women’s empowerment group or sorority.”
The documents stated that Mack would allegedly have victims provide the group “with naked photographs, assets, criminal confessions and other damaging information, known as collateral.”
The documents also alleged that “Mack would perform ceremonies in which her slaves were branded … [She] would place her hands on the slaves’ chests and told them to ‘feel the pain’ and to ‘think of their master,’ as slaves cried in pain.”
The Nightmare Room star is thought to have previously tried to recruit other celebrities, including Emma Watson and Kelly Clarkson, into the cult, reaching out to them on Twitter in 2013 about a “women’s movement” she was involved in.
The Germany native is facing a maximum of up to 40 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on September 11.
Us has reached out to Mack’s rep for comment.
