Former "Smallville" actress Allison Mack pleaded guilty
Monday to racketeering charges in the case of the upstate New York
self-help group that prosecutors say doubled as a secret sex cult.
Mack,
36, is facing up to 40 years in prison after she admitted to committing
offenses that included extortion and forced labor in her role as a
high-ranking member of NXIVM, according to the office of the U.S.
Attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
A
weeping Mack referenced the group's spiritual leader, Keith Raniere, as
she apologized for her part in recruiting women into the organization.
"I
believed Keith Raniere’s intentions were to help people, and I was
wrong," Mack said in federal court in Brooklyn, according to the
Associated Press.
"I can and will be a better person," she added.
Mack was among six people indicted last year for their roles
in running the controversial group led by Raniere, who prosecutors say
operated a master-slave ring within the organization with the help of
the TV actress.
As part of the secret group inside NXIVM,
known as DOS, women were pressured to have sex with Raniere and brand
his initials into their flesh, court papers say.
NXIVM supporters say it was a self-help group committed to changing the
world. Prosecutors have described it as a criminal enterprise built
around a pyramid scheme designed to enrich the top officials and supply
Raniere with a stable of sex "slaves."
Two defendants, Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren, have already pleaded guilty in the case.
Raniere,
who was known inside the organization as "Vanguard," was hit with child
pornography charges last month. He had already pleaded not guilty to
racketeering, trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Raniere
is expected to go on trial later this month. Others indicted in the
case include NXIVM accountant Kathy Russell and Seagram's liquor heiress
Claire Bronfman. They have all denied the allegations.
Mack is set to be sentenced on Sept. 11.
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