'HEIGHTENED HEALTH RISK'

Rich Heiress Says She Has Liver Disorder Ahead of NXIVM Sentencing

Clare Bronfman’s legal team said the condition puts the heiress, who helped shield a sex-cult leader, at “heightened health risk.”

Clare Bronfman, the Seagram heiress and one-time operations director of alleged sex cult NXIVM, has a “possibly serious liver ailment,” according to a court filing submitted two days before her sentencing. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, her legal team claimed Bronfman is at “heightened health risk.” Although the letter doesn’t ask for her sentencing to be postponed, Bronfman has already asked for several sentencing delays citing the coronavirus pandemic. She faces between 21 and 27 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2019 to racketeering charges, including conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain and fraudulent use of identification. Prosecutors argued earlier this month Bronfman should receive the harshest sentence possible for her unrepentant loyalty to NXIVM’s founder, Keith Raniere, who has been convicted of several charges including sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit forced labor.