Nxivm leader Keith Raniere is accusing the federal Bureau of Prisons of conspiring to silence him — including by forcing him to room with a “hermaphroditic” inmate his attorneys claim could falsely accuse him of rape, new court filings allege.
The convicted sex-trafficker – who is serving out his 120-year sentence in an Arizona lock-up – is seeking to get out of the restrictive part of the prison, called the Special Housing Unit or the SHU, according to papers filed Thursday by lawyer Stacy Scheff.
In asking a judge to force the BOP to send the sex-cult leader back into general population, Scheff noted that his current SHU cellmate, William Anthony Fly, has repeatedly alleged to being abused behind bars, the filing shows.
Fly “is hermaphroditic, possessing female genitalia,” the court papers say, and has claimed “on at least 75 separate occasions – that she has been the victim of sexual violence by others.”
“Given the frequency of inmate Fly’s allegations of sexual violence, [the BOP] must understand the statistical likelihood that inmate Fly may falsely allege sexual misconduct by [Raniere] – a man who is left unattended with her in a locked room for approximately 23 hours a day,” the filing claims.
Raniere, 62, landed in the SHU while staff at the United States Penitentiary – Tucson were investigating an incident in which he was allegedly beaten up by a fellow sex-trafficker inmate.
The twisted guru has since been cleared in the incident, but he “inexplicably” remains in the restrictive unit, Scheff wrote in the court documents.
Raniere claims its in retaliation for him going public with allegations of misconduct by federal investigators in his case. He first filed suit against the BOP in May claiming that it was trying to silence him by limiting his phone contact with the outside world.
Since then, Raniere claims prison staff have escalated their alleged campaign against him by needlessly segregating him from the general population and keeping him in the SHU — with limited access to phone calls and only one hour a day of outdoor activity, according to the filing in Arizona federal court from Thursday.
“Neither punishment nor protection being the motivation, [Raniere] is left with the firm belief that [the BOP’s] desire [is] to keep him quiet,” Scheff alleged in the filing.
Scheff is asking a judge to issue an injunction forcing the BOP to move Raniere back to the general population “immediately.”
“We’ve asked a judge to issue an order to stop the prison from continuing to retaliate against Mr. Raniere; that is in litigation,” Scheff said in a statement to The Post.
But in the meantime, with Raniere “languishing in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for two months, despite having been cleared of wrongdoing over a month ago, we’re also imploring the warden to do the right thing.
“He can snap his fingers and release Mr. Raniere from solitary confinement any time he wants.”
Benjamin O’Cone, a spokesman with the BOP, told The Post: “For safety and security reasons the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) does not provide information about conditions of confinement or internal security practices for any particular inmate, or matters subject to investigation.”
O’Cone said “humane treatment of inmates” is “top priority” and the BOP is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of all inmates in our population, our staff, and the public.”
Fly doesn’t have a lawyer currently listed in her criminal case, or in a handwritten civil case she filed in 2020 claiming that staff at a New Jersey prison “force or encourage” physical abuse, rape and cruelty. That case was dismissed by a judge in January who said that Fly could file an amended complaint to reopen the case.
In 2018, Fly pleaded guilty in a federal case to transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, court records show. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
She was also previously convicted for abusing and impregnating an elementary school girl, Metro UK reported.
Raniere has filed an appeal of his 2019 conviction on seven counts including sex trafficking and racketeering for forcing woman and girls to be branded and serve as his “slaves.”
