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Home / Entertainment

Smallville's Allison Mack seeking plea deal in sex cult case

news.com.au
24 Apr, 2018 09:48 PM2 mins to read

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Allison Mack is escorted away from Federal court. Photo / AP

Allison Mack is escorted away from Federal court. Photo / AP

Smallville star-turned-accused-sex-slaver Allison Mack is looking to cut a deal with the feds in Brooklyn, according to a new affidavit.

Mack's lawyers and federal prosecutors have agreed to delay proceedings against her until May 3, because "they are engaged in plea negotiations, which they believe are likely to result in a disposition of this case without trial," according to a document filed Friday.

Mack was the No. 2 in a sex cult run by Keith Raniere under the guise of his upstate self-help group, Nxivm (pronounced "nexium"), according to authorities.

Prosecutors say that Mack, 35, used her star power to lure young women into the group and that she and Raniere then forced the women to go on crash diets and "branded" them like cattle as Mack groomed them for sex with Raniere.

Raniere and Mack have pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking and forced-labour charges.

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Mack was scheduled for a bail hearing Monday, but it was delayed.

Her lawyers did not respond to a request for comment, and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment.

It was also revealed Monday that Mack allegedly tried to leverage her celebrity to reel in big fish on Twitter — including Harry Potter star Emma Watson and singer Kelly Clarkson.

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".@EmWatson I participate in a unique human development & women's movement I'd love to tell you about. As a fellow actress I can relate so ..." Mack tweeted at Watson in January 2016.

.@EmWatson I'm a fellow actress like yourself & involved in an amazing women's movement I think you'd dig. I'd love to chat if you're open.

— Allison Mack (@allisonmack) January 24, 2016

"@kelly_clarkson I heard through the grapevine that you're a fan of Smallville. I'm a fan of yours as well! I'd love to chat sometime," she wrote to the pop superstar in 2013.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's Republican challenger, Chele Farley, claimed on Monday that Sen. Gillibrand's stepmother, Gwenn Belcourt, was aggressively courted by the alleged cult.

Sen. Gillibrand's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but she has claimed that she was unaware of ­Nxivm, even though she grew up in the Albany area, where the group operates, and her father, Doug Rutnik, worked as a lobbyist for Nxivm for four months in 2004.

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