Keith Raniere, the founder of a cult-like group where women were kept on starvation diets, branded with his initials, and ordered to have sex with him, faces possible life in prison when he is sentenced on Tuesday in Brooklyn for crimes of which he maintains his innocence.
Federal prosecutors say they want Raniere, 60, to remain behind bars for life as punishment for the "immeasurable damages" to victims he exploited as head of NXIVM, a purported self-help group headquartered near Albany, New York.
Raniere has remained defiant. In a court filing last month, his lawyers said Raniere maintained his "complete innocence," and viewed his conviction as the result of a "media campaign involving witnesses who were motivated to testify falsely" at "an unfair trial."