U.S. APRIL 19, 2019 / 5:54 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman pleads guilty in New York sex cult case

Brendan Pierson
3 MIN READ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Seagram liquor heiress Clare Bronfman pleaded guilty on Friday to harboring an illegal immigrant and enabling credit card fraud as part of an alleged sex cult based in upstate New York.

Bronfman, 40, entered her plea to the two criminal counts before U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. She is one of several people charged in connection with a secretive organization called Nxivm, which federal prosecutors have described as a racketeering organization.

Bronfman admitted that she knowingly harbored a woman brought to the United States on a fake work visa in order to obtain that woman’s labor for herself and the organization. She also said she helped Nxivm’s founder, Keith Raniere, use a deceased woman’s credit card.

As part of her plea, Bronfman agreed to forfeit $6 million, and not to appeal any prison sentence of 27 months or less. She said she was “truly remorseful.”

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