What Happened to Keith Raniere and Where Is the NXIVM Cult Leader Now?

Season 2 of the critically-acclaimed HBO documentary series, The Vow is finally here, premiering October 17 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

This time out, the documentary series focuses on NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, who has turned her back on her one-time ally Keith Raniere.

So, what happened to NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere and where is he now? Newsweek has everything you need to know.

What Happened to Keith Raniere?

In 1998, American businessman and self-help guru Keith Raniere founded NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company in Albany, New York. He founded the organization alongside Nancy Salzman, a nurse and trained practitioner of hypnotism and neurolinguistic programming.

It was known for its motivational personal development seminars, and even attracted celebrities and social media stars for over two decades.

However, it eventually became apparent that NXIVM had a much darker side.

In 2009, a group of associates called the NXIVM Nine split from Raniere's organization, citing concerns over "unethical practices" and "abuse of his leadership status to sexually manipulate women."

In November 2010, Vanity Fair, The New York Post, and The Albany Times published articles that detailed allegations of abuse and violence, and in the latter, former NXIVM coaches described students as "prey" for Raniere.

Then, in 2011, Toni Natalie, Raniere's ex-girlfriend and former business partner, publicly accused him of rape.

Writing in her statement, Natalie said: "Prior to leaving him in 1999, I was raped repeatedly by Raniere, each time with him telling me it was harder on him than it was on me, that we needed to be together so that I could share in his energy."

At the time, then-NXIVM attorney Pamela Nichols called Natalie's statement "slanderous" and "scandalous," accusing Natalie of having a "personal vendetta" against Raniere.

In 2012, several female members of NXIVM came forward with allegations of systematic sexual abuse against Raniere and other NXIVM members. Their claims were exposed by an investigation by Albany Times Union. The article included three accounts of Raniere seducing and abusing girls under the age of consent.

Since the sexual abuse allegations surfaced, cult experts, media, and former members have described the company as cult-like, with Raniere as its controlling leader.

In 2015, Raniere created a secret sect of NXIVM known as DOS or "Dominus Obsequious Sororium," which loosely translates to "Mater Over the Salve Women." It was promoted as a "women's empowerment society."

Raniere was the head of DOS, known as "grandmaster," and established a pyramid system, where slaves were controlled by their "masters". Women would also have to give "collateral" to their leaders every month, which included things such as sexually explicit photos or videos and personal information. They were also groomed to have sex with Raniere and were forced to follow near-starvation diets.

Some women who were members of DOS were branded with Raniere's initials. In total, DOS is believed to have had 150 members. The details of DOS were exposed by journalist Frank Parlato in June 2017 poston his blog The Frank Report. This was followed by a New York Times Story in October of that year detailing how five women had been branded with the DOS logo.

Following the publishing of The New York Times article, Raniere fled to Mexico.

He was arrested in March 2018 by Mexican Federal Police and his trial on charges including sex trafficking, conspiracy for sex trafficking, and conspiracy to commit forced labor began in May 2019.

In addition to the exposure of DOS, at trial, the court heard how three daughters of the one family were sexually groomed by Raniere as teenagers. The eldest daughter, "Marianna" (not her real name) is the mother of Raniere's second biological child. The middle child "Daniela" was held in solitary confinement by Raniere for almost two years after she expressed interest in another man. Raniere also abused their younger sister, "Camila," from the age of 15 years for 12 years. A jury heard that Raniere would refer to Camila as his "slave."

At the time of Raniere's trial, Marianna and her father still supported Raniere and NXIVM.

On June 19, 2019, Raniere was convicted on several sexual offenses, including:

• The sexual exploitation of a child
• Possession of child pornography
• Sex trafficking
• Attempted sex trafficking
• Indentity theft
• Trafficking for labor
• Forced labor
• Conspiracy to alter records
• Sex trafficking conspiracy
• Forced labor conspiracy
• Racketeering conspiracy
• Wire fraud conspiracy

He was sentenced to 120 years in prison and fined $1.75 million. At his sentencing trial, 15 of Raniere's victims spoke via impact statements, including Camila.

Where is Keith Raniere Now?

Today, Keith Raniere, 62, is a convicted racketeer and sex offender, serving his 120-year prison at United States Penitentiary, Tuscon.

He is currently in the middle of an appeals process, appealing both his conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeals.

Before being moved to Tuscon, Raniere served some of his sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg.

Newsweek has contacted Raniere's trial lawyer Marc Agnifilo and HBO for comment.

The Vow Part 2 airs Mondays on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. ET.