United States v. Raniere (384 F. Supp. 3d 282, 2019)

NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS, United States District Judge.

Defendant Keith Raniere has been indicted on charges arising from his involvement in several hierarchical pyramid-structured organizations he founded. (Second Superseding Indictment ("Indictment") (Dkt. 430) ¶¶ 1-49.) These organizations included Nxivm, which purported to offer self-help courses, and "DOS," a secret society that purported to be a women's empowerment group. (Compl. (Dkt. 1) ¶ 17; Indictment ¶¶ 1-3, 42.) The Indictment charges him with racketeering (or "RICO") conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) ("Count One") (id. ¶¶ 13-26); and with racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1962(c) ("Count Two") (id. ¶¶ 16-40). It also charges Raniere with participation in a forced labor conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1589(a) ("Count Six") (id. ¶ 44); wire fraud conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 ("Count Seven") (id. ¶ 45); and sex trafficking offenses, in violation of provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 1591 ("Count Eight," "Count Nine," and "Count Ten") (id. ¶¶ 46-48).

Before the court are Raniere's motions to dismiss various counts and predicate racketeering acts in the Indictment, for a bill of particulars, for prompt disclosure of exculpatory materials pursuant to Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), to preclude the Government's proposed experts, and for an order allowing foreign witnesses to testify via live videoconferencing. (Keith Raniere Mot. to Dismiss Indictment, for a Bill of Particulars, for Brady Materials, and for Foreign Trial Testimony ("Raniere Mot.") (Dkt. 456).) The court DENIES Raniere's motions for the following reasons.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Government's Factual Allegations

1. Nxivm and DOS

The Government alleges in its complaint that, in or about 1998, Raniere founded Executive Success Programs, Inc. ("ESP"), a series of workshops designed (according to its promotional literature) to "actualize human potential." (Compl. ¶ 3.) In or about 2003, Raniere founded an organization called Nxivm, which served as an umbrella organization for ESP and other affiliated entities. (Id. ) Nxivm promoted itself as a "professional business providing educational tools, coaching and trainings to corporations and people from all walks of life," and described its philosophy as "a new ethical understanding" that allows "humanity to rise to its noble possibility." (Id. )

Nxivm was headquartered in Albany, New York, and recruited members from around the world, including from the Eastern District of New York. (Id. ¶ 5.) It offered classes in various cities within the United States and abroad, which cost up to $ 5,000 for a five-day workshop. (Id. ¶ 6.) Nxivm encouraged its participants to continue attending classes and to recruit others into Nxivm in order to be promoted within the organization and thereby reach certain "goal levels." (Id. ) The Nxivm curriculum allegedly taught, among other things, that women had inherent weaknesses including "overemotional" natures," an inability to keep promises, and embracing the role of victim. (Id. ¶ 17.)

In 2015, Raniere created a secret society called "DOS," which is structured like a pyramid with levels of "slaves" headed by "masters." (Id. ¶¶ 11, 13.) DOS slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own, who in turn would owe service to their own masters and to masters above. (Id. ¶ 13.) All DOS participants were women except for Raniere, whose status as the highest DOS master was allegedly concealed from newly recruited slaves, other than those directly under Raniere. (Id. ¶ 14.)

DOS masters recruited slaves mostly from Nxivm. (Id. ¶ 15.) Masters targeted dissatisfied women by telling them that DOS would change their lives and that, to join DOS, they would need to provide "collateral" to ensure they would not leave the group or tell others about it. (Id. ¶¶ 15-19.) Collateral included sexually explicit photographs and videos; rights to financial assets; videos made to look to look candid in which the prospective slaves told damning stories (true or untrue) about themselves, friends, or family members; and letters making damaging accusations (true or untrue) about friends and family members. (Id. ¶¶ 16, 18.)

After joining DOS, slaves were required to provide additional collateral every month; all DOS slaves were ultimately made to provide more collateral than had initially been described to them. (Id. ¶¶ 18-19.) Slaves were also obligated to perform "acts of care" for and pay "tribute" to their masters by bringing them coffee, buying them groceries, making them lunch, carrying their luggage, cleaning their houses, and retrieving lost items for them, among other things. (Id. ¶ 20.) Allegedly, DOS members understood that the slaves' acts of care should amount to the master having the work of at least one full-time employee. (Id. )

Beyond acts of care, slaves were regularly given assignments by their masters. (Id. ¶ 22.) Some masters allegedly gave their slaves assignments that either directly or implicitly required them to have sex with Raniere. (Id. ) Other assignments required slaves to adhere to extremely low-calorie diets and to document the food they ate, which was meant to accommodate Raniere's sexual preference for thin women. (Id. ) Other women were assigned to periods of celibacy. (Id. ) Slaves who were assigned to have sex with Raniere believed that not doing so would risk release of their collateral. (Id. ¶ 23.)

Allegedly, DOS masters profited from directing slaves to have sex with Raniere by receiving the acts of care that came with continued status and participation in DOS, and by receiving increased status and financial opportunities within Nxivm more broadly. (Id. ¶ 24; see Indictment ¶ 4.) Additionally, Raniere promised career opportunities to the slaves who had sex with him and with whom he wanted to have sex. (Compl. ¶ 24.)

The Government's complaint further alleges in detail that Raniere and co-conspirators engaged in sex trafficking and a forced-labor conspiracy with respect to Jane Doe 1 between February 2016 and May 2017 (Compl. ¶¶ 42-51), and sex trafficking with respect to Jane Doe 2 between November 2016 and May 2017 (id. ¶¶ 52-57).

2. The Alleged Enterprise

According to the Indictment, in leading Nxivm, DOS, and other affiliated pyramid-structured entities (the "Pyramid Organizations"), Raniere relied on an inner circle of individuals who carried out his directives and held high positions in the Pyramid Organizations. (Indictment ¶¶ 1-3.) This inner circle (the "Enterprise") was allegedly a criminal enterprise, as defined in the RICO statute, see 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4). (Id. )

The Enterprise operated within the Eastern and Northern Districts of New York and elsewhere, including overseas. (Id. ¶ 5.) Its alleged purpose was to obtain financial and personal benefits for its members, including increased power and status within the Enterprise, by promoting Raniere and recruiting others into the Pyramid Organizations. (Id. ¶ 4.) Its members accomplished this by, among other things, "[p]romoting, enhancing and protecting the Enterprise by committing, attempting and conspiring to commit crimes, including but not limited to visa fraud, identity theft, extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, money laundering, wire fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice" (id. ¶ 6(a)); "[d]emanding absolute commitment to Raniere," including by "exalting" his teachings and ideology and not tolerating dissent (id. ¶ 6(b)); "[i]nducing shame and guilt" to influence members and associates of the Enterprise (id. ¶ 6(c)); "[o]btaining sensitive information about members and associates of the Enterprise" to control them (id. ¶ 6(d)); "[r]ecruiting and grooming sexual partners for Raniere" (id. ¶ 6(e)); "[i]solating associates and others from friends and family and making them dependent on the Enterprise for their financial well-being and legal status in the United States" (id. ¶ 6(f)); "[p]rotecting and attempting to protect Raniere and the Enterprise by ... gaining political influence and evading regulatory agencies" (id. ¶ 6(g)); "[u]sing harassment, coercion and abusive litigation to intimidate and attack perceived enemies and critics of Raniere" (id. ¶ 6(h)); and "[e]ncouraging associates and others to take expensive Nxivm courses, and incur debt to do so, as a means of exerting control over them and to obtain financial benefits for the members of the Enterprise" (id. ¶ 6(i)).

B. Procedural History

1. Charges

The Indictment contains eleven counts. (Indictment.) When the Indictment was filed on March 13, 2019, Raniere, Bronfman, Mack, Russell, and Lauren Salzman were joined in a single count charging a racketeering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), predicated on acts indictable under thirteen criminal statutes (twelve of them federal), spanning from approximately 2003 to March 2018 ("Count One"). (Id. ¶¶ 13-15.) Count One does not specify who agreed to commit which acts, or when each act, was committed, but does state that each Defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two predicate acts. (Id. ¶ 15.)

Raniere, Bronfman, Mack, and Lauren Salzman were also charged with racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1962(c) ("Count Two"). (Id. ¶¶ 16-40). This count is predicated on fourteen acts spanning from roughly to 2003 and March 2018. (Id. ¶¶ 16-17.) There appears to be substantial overlap between the predicate acts alleged in Counts One and Two. Below is a chart depicting Bronfman, Raniere, Mack, and Lauren Salzman's alleged participation in the fourteen predicate acts of racketeering (some of which the Indictment divides into sub-acts). As illustrated below, Bronfman is not alleged to have committed any predicate acts with Mack and Lauren Salzman (the "DOS Defendants"):

DOS Defendants RICO Acts Description Bronfman Ramere Mack L. Salzman Act 1-A Identity Theft X Conspiracy, Jane Doe 16 Act 1-B Conspiracy to X Unlawfully Possess Identification Document Act 2 Sexual X Exploitation of a Child, Jane Doe 2 Act 3 Sexual X Exploitation of a Child, Jane Doe 2 Act 4 Possession of X Child Pornography Act 5-A Identity Theft X X Conspiracy Act 5-B Identity Theft, X John Doe 1 Act 5-C Identity Theft, X X John Doe 2 Act 6 Conspiracy to X Alter Records for Use in an Official Proceeding Act 7 Identity Theft X Conspiracy, Jane Doe 3 Act 8 Money Laundering X Act 9-A Trafficking of Jane X X Doe 4 for Labor Act 9-B Document X X Servitude, Jane Doe 4 Act 10 Extortion X X X Act 11 Visa Fraud X Act 12-A Sex Trafficking, X X Jane Doe 5 Act 12-B Forced Labor, Jane X X Doe 5 Act 13 Forced Labor, Jane X Doe 6 Act 14 Identity Theft X X Conspiracy, Jane Doe 7

[Editor's Note: The preceding image contains the reference for footnote ].

(See id. ¶¶ 17-34.)

The court has dismissed Counts Three, Four, Five, and Eleven without prejudice on motion of the Government. (Apr. 4, 2019 Min. Entry.) Count Six charges Raniere with participation in a forced labor conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1589(a). (Id. ¶ 44.) Count Seven charges him with wire fraud conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. (Id. ¶ 45). Count Eight charges him with sex trafficking conspiracy, Count Nine charges him with sex trafficking of Jane Doe 5, and Count Ten charges him with the attempted sex trafficking of Jane Doe 8, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1591(a)(1) and 1591(a)(2). (Id. ¶¶ 46-48).

According to the Government, the factual bases for these counts is set forth in the Government's complaint, detention letters, responses to Raniere's motions for pretrial release, and the discovery materials the Government has provided to Defendants. (See Gov't First Mem. in Opp'n to Defs. Mots. to Dismiss ("Gov't First Mem.") (Dkt. 248) at 6-7 (listing the filings and discovery material that set forth the factual bases for each charged count and racketeering acts).)

2. The Instant Motions

On November 16 and 17, 2018, the six Defendants (none of whom had yet pleaded guilty) moved to dismiss most of the counts in the first superseding indictment in this case. (Lauren Salzman Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 192); Bronfman, Russell, and Nancy Salzman Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 193); Raniere Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 196); Mack Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 199).) On March 13, 2019, the grand jury returned the Second Superseding Indictment. (Indictment.) On March 22, 2019, Defendants renewed their earlier arguments and collectively moved to dismiss all counts except for Count Seven and various predicate racketeering acts and made several procedural motions. (Bronfman Mot.; Mack Mot. to Dismiss Second Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 460)); L. Salzman Letter Mot. to Dismiss Second Superseding Indictment ("L. Salzman Second Mem.") (Dkt. 455); Raniere Mot; see Raniere Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Indictment ("Raniere Second Mem.") (Dkt. 456-1) (joining his co-defendants' motions to dismiss various counts and racketeering acts in which he is named).

Between March 13 and April 19, 2019, Raniere's five co-defendants pleaded guilty. Raniere joined their motions to dismiss, as he is charged in all counts of the Indictment. (See Raniere Second Mem. at 1.) For the sake of clarity, the court will attribute all Defendants' arguments to Raniere. Additionally, in light of the substantial overlap between the two superseding indictments, the court will consider any arguments that were made in support of Defendants' motions to dismiss the First Superseding Indictment, even if Defendants did not explicitly renew these arguments in making their motions to dismiss the Second Superseding Indictment.

To organize its analysis, the court divides the instant motions into the following seven categories:

1. Count One: Raniere's motion to dismiss Count One because it fails to allege predicate acts with sufficient particularity, fails to properly allege the "pattern" element of a RICO charge, and is duplicitous. (See Raniere Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment ("Raniere First Mem.") (Dkt. 198) at 10-14; Bronfman, Russell & Nancy Salzman Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment ("Bronfman First Mem.") (Dkt. 194) at 13-31; Bronfman Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Indictment ("Bronfman Second Mem.") (Dkt. 458) at 2-6, 7-11; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Bronfman's motion).)

2. Count Two: Raniere's motion to dismiss Count Two because it fails to allege predicate acts with sufficient particularity, fails to properly allege the "pattern" element of a RICO charge, and is duplicitous. (See Raniere First Mem. at 10-14; Bronfman First Mem. at 13-26; Bronfman Second Mem. at 6-11; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Bronfman's motion).)

3. Child Pornography: Raniere's motion to dismiss Racketeering Acts 2, 3, and 4, which charge him with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. (Raniere Second Mem. at 5-8.)

4. Sex Trafficking: Raniere's motion to dismiss Counts Six, Eight, Nine, and Ten, which charge him with sex-trafficking offenses. (Mack Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment ("Mack First Mem.") (Dkt. 200) at 17-27; Mack Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss Second Superseding Indictment ("Mack Second Mem.") (Dkt. 461) at 1 n.1; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Mack's motions).)

5. Forced Labor Conspiracy: Raniere's motion to dismiss Count Six, which charges him with a forced labor conspiracy. (Raniere First Mem. at 17; L. Salzman Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss First Indictment ("L. Salzman First Mem.") (Dkt. 192-3) at 17-19; Mack First Mem. at 6-17; L. Salzman Second Mem. at 4-5; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Lauren Salzman's motion).)

6. Extortion: Raniere's motion to dismiss Racketeering Act Ten, which charges him with a state-law extortion offense. (L. Salzman First Mem. at 10-17, 19-22; L. Salzman Second Mem. at 4-5; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Lauren Salzman's motion to dismiss Act Ten).)

7. Procedural Motions: This includes Raniere's:

a. Motion for a bill of particulars (Bronfman First Mem. at 36-38; Mack First Mem. at 30 n.15; L. Salzman First Mem. at 22; Raniere Second Mem. at 10-12; see Raniere Mot. to Dismiss First Superseding Indictment (Dkt. 196) at 1 (joining his co-defendants' motions for a bill of particulars);

b. Motion for prompt disclosure of Brady materials (Raniere First Mem. at 18);

c. Motion to preclude the Government's proposed experts (Raniere Second Mem. at 12-15; Mack Second Mem. at 11-14; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Mack's motion));

d. Motion for an order allowing foreign witnesses to testify via live videoconferencing (Raniere First Mem. at 22; Raniere Second Mem. at 15).

II. PLEADING STANDARD FOR INDICTMENTS GENERALLY

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c)(1) requires, inter alia, that an indictment contain a "plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged." Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(c)(1). An indictment satisfies Rule 7(c)(1) -and thus the requirements of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments -if it " 'first, contains the elements of the offense charged and fairly informs a defendant of the charge against which he must defend, and, second, enables him to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future prosecutions for the same offense.' " United States v. Stringer, 730 F.3d 120, 124 (2d Cir. 2013) (quoting Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974) ); see also United States v. Lee, 833 F.3d 56, 67-68 (2d Cir. 2016) (stating that an indictment's failure to allege an element of the charged offense is a constitutional violation).

To meet this standard, indictments typically "need do little more than to track the language of the statute charged and state the approximate time and place of the alleged crime." United States v. Thompson, 141 F. Supp. 3d 188, 194 (E.D.N.Y. 2015) (quoting United States v. Vilar, 729 F.3d 62, 80 (2d Cir. 2013) (alterations adopted)). Indictments generally do not "have to specify evidence or details of how the offense was committed." Wey, 2017 WL 237651, at *5 (citation omitted). Moreover, "[w]hen considering a motion to dismiss, the [c]ourt must treat the indictment's allegations as true." Id. at *5 (citing United States v. Velastegui, 199 F.3d 590, 592 n.2 (2d Cir. 1999) ).

That said, there are "very rare cases in which an indictment that track[s] the statutory language and furnishe[s] the pertinent dates" is constitutionally insufficient. Stringer, 730 F.3d at 125. This is because "for certain statutes[,] specification of how a particular element of a criminal charge will be met (as opposed to categorical recitation of the element) is of such importance to the fairness of the proceeding that it must be spelled out in the indictment." Id. at 126 ; see Hamling, 418 U.S. at 118, 94 S.Ct. 2887 ("Where guilt depends so crucially upon [ ] a specific identification of fact ... an indictment must do more than simply repeat the language of the criminal statute."); c.f. Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 764-72, 82 S.Ct. 1038, 8 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962) (the seminal case setting forth a heightened pleading standard for criminal statutes with generic terms). Offenses that require specificity tend to be ones with a generic statutory definition. See Stringer, 730 F.3d at 126-27 (collecting cases).

"The dismissal of an indictment is an extraordinary remedy reserved only for extremely limited circumstances implicating fundamental rights." United States v. De La Pava, 268 F.3d 157, 165 (2d Cir. 2001) (citation and quotation marks omitted). Contrary to Bronfman's assertion (Bronfman Mem. at 17-19 & n.7, 20 n.9, 28; Bronfman Reply (Dkt. 257) at 2; Bronfman Suppl. Reply (Dkt. 391); Bronfman Second Mem. at 2), courts may dismiss acts on which a RICO charge is predicated without dismissing the entire RICO charge. See, e.g., United States v. Yannotti, 541 F.3d 112, 126-27 (2d Cir. 2008) (analyzing whether to dismiss predicate acts but not whether to dismiss the entire RICO count); United States v. Vendetti, No. 10-CR-360 (RJA), 2013 WL 5522434, at *7 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 3, 2013) (dismissing predicate act); United States v. Urso, 369 F. Supp. 2d 254, 265-68 (E.D.N.Y. 2005) (analyzing whether to dismiss predicate acts); see also Basciano, 599 F.3d at 206 (stating that courts may narrow indictments, that the Government "need not prove all predicate acts alleged ... to establish an alleged pattern of racketeering," and that the court was not concerned with the government "reducing the number of predicates through which it intends to prove the charged pattern").

III. DISCUSSION

A. Count One: RICO Conspiracy

Raniere moves to dismiss Count One for three reasons: (i) it fails to allege predicate acts with sufficient specificity; (ii) it fails to properly allege the "pattern" element of a RICO charge; and (iii) it is duplicitous because it alleges two conspiracies-one involving him and one involving the DOS Defendants (Mack and Lauren Salzman). (See Raniere First Mem. at 10-14; Bronfman First Mem. at 13-31; Bronfman Second Mem. at 2-6, 7-11; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Bronfman's motion).)

To engage in a RICO conspiracy, a defendant must "agree[ ] with others" to "further an endeavor which, if completed, would satisfy all of the elements of a substantive RICO offense." United States v. Cain, 671 F.3d 271, 291 (2d Cir. 2012) (alterations adopted) (citation omitted). Here, Defendants are charged with conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), which provides as follows:

It shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity or collection of unlawful debt.

Id.

1. Specificity

According to Raniere, when a crime charged under one statute depends on the defendant's violation or intent to violate a separate statute, the indictment must identify that underlying offense and plead each element of it. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 2, 7.) Raniere maintains that Count One violates this rule in three ways. First, it lists categories of predicate acts, not specific acts that violate specific statutory provisions. (Id. at 2.) Second, some of the predicate-act categories depend on underlying offenses, which Count One does not specify. (Id. ) Third, Count One does not plead each element of the predicate acts or the elements of their underlying offenses. (Id. at 7.) For example, Count One alleges violations of "Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028 (identification document fraud and identification document fraud conspiracy, and identity theft and identity theft conspiracy)." (Indictment ¶ 15(a).) That statute lists at least eight different crimes, none of which are specified in the Indictment. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 3 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(1)-(8), (f).) Further, two of the crimes listed in the statute depend on another underlying offense. (Id. ) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(4), (7).)

Raniere is wrong. The Government is correct that, "to satisfy Rule 7(c) as to a RICO conspiracy charge," "it is not required to identify specific predicate acts" nor "prove at trial that any of the racketeering acts were committed"-let alone specify underlying offenses that are elements of predicate acts or those underlying offenses' elements. (Gov't First Mem. at 27.) See United States v. Applins, 637 F.3d 59, 81 (2d Cir. 2011) ("Neither overt acts, nor specific predicate acts that the defendant agreed personally to commit, need be alleged or proved for a section 1962(d) offense." (quoting United States v. Glecier, 923 F.2d 496, 500 (7th Cir. 1991) ); United States v. Crockett, 979 F.2d 1204, 1208 (7th Cir. 1992) (stating that a RICO conspiracy charge must identify only "the general kinds of racketeering acts that formed the pattern of racketeering activity," which in that case were "murder, extortion, and arson"). The cases Raniere relies on, like United States v. Thompson, are inapposite because they do not involve RICO conspiracy charges. (See Bronfman Mem. at 29-31 (citing Thompson, 141 F. Supp. 3d 188, 192-98 (E.D.N.Y. 2015) )); Bronfman Second Mem. at 4 n.3, 4 (citing other cases that do not involve RICO conspiracy charges).)

RICO conspiracy indictments satisfy Rule 7(c) if they identify an enterprise, name the defendant as someone associated with that enterprise, allege that the defendant conspired to violate RICO, specify the time period during which the conspiracy operated, list specific types of predicate crimes allegedly committed, and discuss in detail the means and methods of the conspiracy. United States v. Bronson, No. 05-CR-714 (NGG), 2007 WL 2455138, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 23, 2007) ; see Applins, 637 F.3d at 82 (stating that a jury must be unanimous only "as to the types of predicate racketeering acts" that defendants agreed to commit, not as to "specific predicate acts" (emphasis added)); United States v. D'Amico, 734 F. Supp. 2d 321, 332-35 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (denying motion to dismiss RICO conspiracy charges for similar reasons). Count One meets these requirements. (See Indictment ¶¶ 1-15.)

2. "Pattern" Element: Whether the Predicate Acts are Related

"The pattern element serves to prevent application of the racketeering statute to perpetrators of isolated or sporadic criminal acts." United States v. Coppola, 671 F.3d 220, 243 (2d Cir. 2012) (citation and quotation marks omitted). To establish the "pattern" element of a RICO conspiracy charge at trial, the Government must prove that the defendants agreed to commit two or more crimes within ten years that "are related to each other and to the enterprise, and together pose a threat of continuing criminal activity." United States v. Napout, No. 15-CR-252 (PKC), 2017 WL 4083571, at *4 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 13, 2017) (citing, inter alia, United States v. Vernace, 811 F.3d 609, 615 (2d Cir. 2016) ); Cain, 671 F.3d at 284. These two components of a RICO pattern are known as "relatedness" and "continuity." Reich v. Lopez, 858 F.3d 55, 59 (2d Cir. 2017). To meet the "relatedness" requirement in any RICO case (civil or criminal), "[p]redicate crimes must be related to each other (termed 'horizontal relatedness') and to the enterprise as a whole ('vertical relatedness')." Id. at 60 (citation omitted) (civil case); accord Vernace, 811 F.3d at 615 (criminal case); see also Reich, 858 F.3d at 61 n.4 (stating that the Supreme Court has instructed courts to interpret the pattern element the same way in civil and criminal cases).

But there is a difference between what the Government must prove at trial and what it must plead in the indictment. See United States v. Messina, No. 11-CR-31 (KAM), 2012 WL 463973, at *4 & n.1 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2012) (rejecting pre-trial challenge to "relatedness" in a criminal RICO case as premature). Raniere posits that an indictment must spell out why a RICO conspiracy's predicate acts are both horizontally and vertically related. These arguments "confuse the standards of pleading with standards of proof." Id. at *4. While there is no Second Circuit ruling directly on point, other case law indicates overwhelmingly that the Government does not have to plead either subpart of the "pattern" element-relatedness or continuity-with the particularity that Bronfman and Raniere suggest, and that, at most, an indictment need only specify predicate acts "that evidence continuity and relatedness." United States v. Giovannelli, No. 01-CR-749 (JSR), 2004 WL 48869, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 9, 2004) (citing H.J., Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229, 239, 109 S.Ct. 2893, 106 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989) ); see United States v. Torres, 191 F.3d 799, 806-07 (7th Cir. 1999) (asserting that an indictment need not allege continuity with particularity because it is "not an element of the offense"); United States v. Palumbo Bros., 145 F.3d 850, 877 (7th Cir. 1998) (same, and adding that an indictment must contain facts showing that the alleged predicate acts are related and "establish or threaten continuing criminal activity"); Messina, 2012 WL 463973 at *4 (rejecting arguments that an indictment alleged separate and unrelated conspiracies). This follows from two general principles: (1) indictments need not "specify evidence or details of how the offense was committed," Wey, 2017 WL 237651, at *5 (citation omitted), and (2) "the sufficiency of the evidence is not appropriately addressed on a pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment," but rather on a post-trial motion for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29, Messina, 2012 WL 463973, at *4 (quoting United States v. Alfonso, 143 F.3d 772, 776-77 (2d Cir. 1998) ).

In this case, the Indictment describes the alleged Enterprise (Indictment ¶¶ 1-3) and its purpose, means, and methods (id. ¶¶ 4-6), and alleges that the Defendants agreed to commit thirteen different types of crimes between 2003 and March 2018 in furtherance of the Enterprise and consistent with its means and methods (id. ¶¶ 14-15). It states that each Defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two of the acts. (Id. ¶ 15.) These allegations "evidence continuity and relatedness," even though the Indictment does not spell out how the predicate acts are horizontally and vertically related. Giovannelli, 2004 WL 48869, at *3. Therefore, the Government has properly alleged the "pattern" element of a RICO conspiracy.

To support his contention that the Government has failed to plead relatedness with sufficient particularity, Raniere relies on civil RICO cases like Reich v. Lopez. (Bronfman First Mem. at 13-21; Bronfman Reply at 12-16.) Raniere is correct that courts must interpret RICO's "pattern" element consistently in criminal and civil cases, and that the Government must prove the same elements at trial as a civil plaintiff. (Bronfman Reply at 12 (citing Reich, 858 F.3d at 61 n.4 ); Tr. of Jan. 9, 2019 Oral Argument ("Hr'g Tr.") (undocketed) at 54:7-13.) But he fails to acknowledge that criminal and civil pleading standards are different, even in RICO cases. Compare TAGC Mgmt., LLC v. Lehman, Lee & Xu Ltd., 536 F. App'x 45, 47 (2d Cir. 2013) (applying Twombly pleading standard to civil RICO complaint and finding that it did not properly allege continuity), with United States v. Vaughn, 722 F.3d 918, 926 (7th Cir. 2013) (declining to apply Twombly standard to a criminal indictment and noting that no other court has done so either); see also United States v. Gatto, 295 F. Supp. 3d 336, 348 (S.D.N.Y. 2018) (denying motion to dismiss RICO indictment and stating that "[d]efendants' reliance on two civil RICO cases is confounding"); Marchese, 1991 WL 60338, at *2 (stating that cases about motions to dismiss civil RICO complaints are inapposite when considering a criminal indictment).

Raniere cites only two cases-both decades old-in which courts dismissed RICO counts because the indictment failed to show that the predicate acts amounted to a pattern. (See Bronfman Reply at 10-11) (citing United States v. Crysopt Corp., 781 F. Supp. 375, 382-86 (D. Md. 1991), and United States v. Berlin, 707 F. Supp. 832, 837-38 (E.D. Va. 1989).) These decisions do not bind this court and, in any event, the court respectfully disagrees with their analysis because "each [decision] treats criminal indictments as if they were civil RICO complaints and cites civil RICO precedents from the Fourth Circuit as support for dismissal of the RICO count of a criminal indictment." Mavroules, 819 F. Supp. at 1118 (rejecting those same decisions' analysis because "a criminal indictment containing a RICO charge is not subject to the same type of analysis to which a civil RICO complaint would be subject on a motion to dismiss").

3. Duplicity: Whether Count One Charges Multiple Conspiracies

a. Overview of Raniere's Arguments

Raniere argues that the Indictment is impermissibly duplicitous in that it charges two RICO conspiracies-one involving Raniere and the DOS Defendants, and one involving Raniere and Bronfman -as one. (Bronfman First Mem. at 21; Bronfman Second Mem. at 10.) The first conspiracy involves coercive acts like sex trafficking, forced labor, and extortion (all of which began in 2015, according to the First Superseding Indictment), and the second conspiracy involves non-coercive acts like identity theft, alteration of records, and money laundering (some of which took place between 2004 and 2010, according to the First Superseding Indictment). (Bronfman First Mem. at 22-23.) Per Raniere, no common purpose unites these two sets of acts, and thus the court should either dismiss Count One or direct the Government to elect which conspiracy it will seek to prove at trial. (Id. at 21.)

b. Legal Standard

Duplicity is the charging of multiple, separate offenses in the same count. United States v. Aracri, 968 F.2d 1512, 1518 (2d Cir. 1992) ; see United States v. Sturdivant, 244 F.3d 71, 75 (2d Cir. 2001) (stating that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 8(a) requires that there be "a separate count for each offense"). An indictment is not duplicitous if a single count alleges "commission of a crime by several means." Aracri, 968 F.2d at 1518 (citation and quotation marks omitted). Moreover, "acts that could be charged as separate counts of an indictment may instead be charged in a single count if those acts could be characterized as a part of a single continuing scheme." United States v. Olmeda, 461 F.3d 271, 281 (2d Cir. 2006). With respect to conspiracy charges generally, "in this Circuit it is well established that the allegation in a single count of a conspiracy to commit several crimes is not duplicitous, for the conspiracy is the crime and that is one, however diverse its objects." Aracri, 968 F.2d at 1518 (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

RICO conspiracies may be even broader than ordinary conspiracies to commit discrete crimes. See United States v. Friedman, 854 F.2d 535, 562 (2d Cir. 1988) ; see also United States v. Salinas, 522 U.S. 52, 65-66, 118 S.Ct. 469, 139 L.Ed.2d 352 (1997). To avoid being duplicitous, a RICO indictment must allege only one enterprise-individuals associated in fact who share a "common purpose," Boyle, 556 U.S. at 946, 129 S.Ct. 2237 -and must allege that the defendants agreed to participate in certain "types of predicate racketeering acts," Applins, 637 F.3d at 81-82. These predicate acts may themselves be conspiracies to commit discrete crimes. See, e.g., United States v. Ruggiero, 726 F.2d 913, 923 (2d Cir. 1984), abrogated on other grounds by, Salinas, 522 U.S. at 61-64, 118 S.Ct. 469. Alleged RICO conspirators need not conspire to commit all of the predicate acts or conspire directly with every other co-conspirator, so long as every co-conspirator has agreed to participate in the affairs of the same enterprise. See Salinas, 522 U.S. at 65, 118 S.Ct. 469 ; Friedman, 854 F.2d at 562-63 (stating that RICO co-conspirators may commit "different, even unrelated crimes" and need not "conspire directly with each other" (citations omitted)); United States v. Eppolito, 543 F.3d 25, 47 (2d Cir. 2008) ("[I]t is not necessary that the conspirators even know the identities of all the other conspirators" or that they "agreed on the details of the conspiracy, so long as they agreed on the essential nature of the plan" (citations and quotation marks omitted)). Further, differences in time periods between racketeering acts do not cause duplicity issues "so long as there is sufficient proof of mutual dependence and assistance." Eppolito, 543 F.3d at 48.

In sum, if a RICO conspiracy count properly alleges the "pattern" element, it will almost certainly not be duplicitous. See Garcia, 2012 WL 6623984, at *6 (rejecting duplicity argument as an "offshoot" of defendants' failed "pattern" arguments); United States v. Ali, No. 04-CR-611, 2005 WL 2989728, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 19, 2005) ("Courts have repeatedly recognized that schemes that might ordinarily constitute different criminal conspiracies are properly joined in a RICO enterprise offense, provided those schemes are sufficiently 'related' under the statute.") (citing United States v. Eufrasio, 935 F.2d 553, 564-67 (3d Cir. 1991) ; United States v. Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084, 1136 (3d Cir. 1990) ; United States v. Riccobene, 709 F.2d 214, 224-25 (3d Cir. 1983).).

c. Application

The principles outlined above make clear that Count One is not pleaded duplicitously. It charges one RICO conspiracy with one common purpose uniting its predicate acts: receiving financial opportunities and personal benefits, including increased power and status within the Enterprise, by promoting Raniere and recruiting others into the Pyramid Organizations. (Indictment ¶ 4.) Each Defendant allegedly agreed on this "essential nature of the plan." Eppolito, 543 F.3d at 47. Despite Raniere's contentions (Bronfman First Mem. at 23), this common purpose is not overly broad. As the Government correctly notes, the pursuit of financial and personal benefits is often the purpose of criminal RICO indictments. (Gov't First Mem. at 41 (citing United States v. Basciano, No. 03-CR-0929 (NGG) (Sept. 29, 2006) (Dkt. 604) (Indictment) ("The principal purpose of the Bonanno family was to generate money for its members and associates.... [t]he members and associates at times used the resources of the Bonanno family to settle personal grievances and vendettas.")).)

Further, the Indictment describes "mutual dependence and assistance" among the predicate acts. Id. The DOS Defendants' acts and Bronfman's acts involve organizations founded by Raniere that are intertwined with one another-for example, DOS slaves were allegedly recruited from Nxivm (Compl. ¶ 15). (Indictment ¶¶ 17-23, 26-31, 34.) Each DOS Defendant was a high-ranking Nxivm member. (Id. ¶¶ 9, 11.) Contrary to Raniere's arguments (Bronfman First Mem. at 23-24), the fact that the DOS Defendants' acts and Bronfman's acts are different in character and occurred at different times does not make Count One duplicitous. See Friedman, 854 F.2d at 562-63 ; Eppolito, 543 F.3d at 47-48.

Accordingly, Count One alleges a single RICO conspiracy; it is not pleaded duplicitously.

B. Count Two: Substantive RICO

Raniere contends that Count Two, or some of its predicate acts, should be dismissed for similar reasons. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 6-11; see Raniere Second Mem. at 1 (joining Bronfman's motion).) First, he avers that it is insufficiently pleaded because, with respect to several predicate acts, it does not identify the underlying offenses or the elements of such offenses, and it does not allege each element of Act Eleven. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 6-9.) Second, he claims that Act One-A is defective because it alleges a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A), which includes four subsections, one of which- § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) -is overbroad in violation of the First Amendment. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 9.) Third, he posits that Count Two's fourteen predicate acts are insufficiently related. (Id. at 10.) Fourth, he insists that Count Two is duplicitous. (Id. )

1. Specificity

Count Two alleges fourteen predicate acts, some of which are divided into sub-acts. (Indictment ¶¶ 18-40.) According to Raniere, the following acts improperly fail to identify the underlying offenses on which they rely: One, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Eleven. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 6.) Further, Act Eleven is missing essential elements because it does not identify Raniere's false statements, explain why they are false, or state that the false statements were made under oath or penalty of perjury. (Id. at 8-9.)

In the Government's view, Raniere's arguments on Count Two are foreclosed by United States v. D'Amelio, 683 F.3d 412 (2d Cir. 2012). (Gov't Second Mem. in Opp'n to Mots. to Dismiss ("Gov't Second Mem.") (Dkt. 485) at 18-26.) In D'Amelio, the Second Circuit held that an indictment provides sufficient notice if it alerts the defendant to the " 'core of criminality' of an offense"-i.e., the "essence of a crime, in general terms"-and that "the specific means used by a defendant to effect his or her crime does not constitute an 'essential element' of the offense." 683 F.3d at 418, 422. Per the Government, D'Amelio makes clear that Count Two's predicate acts give ample notice to Raniere. (Gov't Second Mem. at 21.)

The court agrees with the Government. In every act to which Raniere points, the underlying offense is part of a "to wit" clause identifying the means by which a defendant effected the crime, and thus is not an essential element of the alleged crime. See Bastian, 770 F.3d at 221 ("As a preliminary matter, we have never suggested that a 'to wit' clause binds the government to prove the exact facts specified in a criminal indictment."); United States v. Agrawal, 726 F.3d 235, 261 (2d Cir. 2013) ("When the indictment is thus considered as a whole, the 'to wit' clause is properly understood to be illustrative rather than definitional of the core of criminality charged by the grand jury."). Even though the Indictment does not plead underlying offenses, Raniere has ample notice of the predicate acts the Government will seek to prove at trial. The court discusses each challenged act (see Bronfman Second Mem. at 6) in turn.

a. Act One

Act One-A alleges that Raniere participated in a conspiracy to commit identity theft in 2004, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). (Indictment ¶ 19.) An element of that crime is that the conspiracy must have been undertaken with "intent to commit, and to aid and abet, and in connection with" another federal crime. 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). The Indictment alleges that element. (Indictment ¶ 19.) Act One-A also contains a to-wit clause, which alleges that the other crime was "bringing in, transporting and harboring an alien, in violation of [ 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A) ]." (Id. ) Because that statute is not an essential element of the predicate act (conspiracy to commit identity theft) and is referenced in a "to wit" clause, the Indictment need not identify one of § 1324(a)(1)(A)'s four subsections, which list means by which that crime may be effected. See United States v. Whyte, 630 F. App'x 104, 108 (2d Cir. 2015) ("[W]here there are several ways to violate a criminal statute ... a conviction [under that statute] will be sustained if the evidence indicates that the statute was violated in any of the ways charged.") Bronfman and Raniere also know the names of Act One-A's victim. (Gov't Second Mem. at 21 n.12.) See Stringer, 730 F.3d at 127 (holding that an indictment need not include the name of an identity-theft victim, so long as the Government provides the name at the defendant's request). Furthermore, Act One-B arises from the same pattern of conduct as 1-A and indicates that the identity theft underlying One-A was effectuated via a "sheriff's identification card with the last name and date of birth of [the victim]." (Indictment ¶ 20; Gov't Second Mem. at 22.) In sum, considering "the record as a whole" and not just the Indictment, Walsh, 194 F.3d at 45, Raniere appears to know the specific facts that are most "importan[t] to the fairness of the proceeding." Stringer, 730 F.3d at 126 ;

b. Acts Five and Seven

For the same reasons, Acts Five and Seven pass muster. Both state that the alleged conspiracy to commit identity theft was undertaken with "intent to commit, and to aid and abet, and in connection with" another federal crime. (Indictment ¶¶ 25 (Act 5-A), 29 (Act Seven).) Both indicate time frames in which the alleged crimes took place. (Indictment ¶¶ 25, 26 (Act 5-B), 27 (Act 5-C), 29.) Raniere knows who the victims are. (Gov't Second Mem. at 21 n.12, 22-23.) These allegations thus provide notice of the core criminality of the alleged offenses.

c. Act Eight

Act Eight alleges that Bronfman engaged in money laundering in or about March 2009, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(A). (Indictment ¶ 30.) Under that statute, the Government must show that Bronfman acted with the intent to promote specified unlawful activity. 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(A). In "to wit" clauses, Act Eight states that Bronfman used wire transfers to launder and that the specified unlawful activity was visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546. (Indictment ¶ 30.)

This is sufficient. It makes no difference that § 1546 lists multiple crimes. A money-laundering indictment need not provide elements and other details of the "specified unlawful activity." See United States v. Cherry, 330 F.3d 658, 667-68 (4th Cir. 2003) ("[D]etails about the nature of the unlawful activity underlying the money laundering need not be alleged." (citation omitted) (alteration adopted)); United States v. Caldwell, 302 F.3d 399, 413 (5th Cir. 2002) (finding that an indictment sufficiently charged a defendant with money laundering even though it did not allege elements of the specified unlawful activity); United States v. McGauley, 279 F.3d 62, 70 (1st Cir. 2002) ("[W]e do not require the indictment to specify the predicate offense underlying a money laundering charge." (quotation marks omitted)); cf. Whyte, 630 F. App'x at 108 ("[W]here there are several ways to violate a criminal statute ... a conviction [under that statute] will be sustained if the evidence indicates that the statute was violated in any of the ways charged.").

d. Act Nine

Act Nine alleges that Raniere and Lauren Salzman trafficked Jane Doe 4 for document servitude and forced labor between March 2010 and April 2012, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1590 and 1592. (Indictment ¶¶ 31-33.) 18 U.S.C. § 1590 makes it a crime to knowingly recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain any person for forced labor. 18 U.S.C. § 1592 prohibits knowingly altering or possessing another person's immigration document while violating forced-labor laws. The Government has pleaded the elements of both statutes (id. ) and Raniere and Lauren Salzman know the identity of Jane Doe 4 (Gov't Second Mem. at 23). This is sufficient. The Government did not need to specify how it will prove the forced-labor element of either crime. See Wey, 2017 WL 237651, at *5 (stating that indictments need not "specify evidence or details of how the offense was committed" (citation omitted)). Moreover, Bronfman has not provided any support for the proposition that either §§ 1590 or 1592 is one of the few statutes for which "specification of how a particular element of a criminal charge will be met ... is of such importance to the fairness of the proceeding that it must be spelled out in the indictment." Stringer, 730 F.3d at 126.

e. Act Eleven

Act Eleven alleges that Bronfman committed visa fraud between October 2015 and January 2018, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a). (Indictment ¶ 35.) She allegedly worked with others to "knowingly and intentionally present an application, affidavit, and other document required by the immigration laws and regulations prescribed thereunder, which contained one or more false statements with respect to a material fact and which failed to contain any reasonable basis in law and fact." (Id. ) "[T]o wit, Bronfman caused to be submitted to the United States consulate an offer of employment that Bronfman knew to contain materially false and fraudulent statements, which offer of employment was submitted in support of a visa application for another individual." (Id. )

The court must address two issues Raniere raises regarding Act Eleven. First, he complains that it does not specify which immigration laws required the submission of the document in question. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 6.) As the Government notes (Gov't Second Mem. at 24), though, a § 1546(a) indictment need not do that. See United States v. Archer, 671 F.3d 149, 154 (2d Cir. 2011) ("Visa fraud, as charged here, has five elements: the defendant (1) knowingly (2) presented (3) an application or 'document required by the immigration laws' (4) that contained a false statement (5) as to a material fact." (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) )). Furthermore, the Government has produced the relevant document-an offer of employment that Bronfman sent the United States consulate-to the defendants in Rule 16 discovery, so Raniere has notice of which immigration laws required its submission. (Gov't Second Mem. at 25 & n.15.)

Second, Raniere avers that Act Eleven is deficient because, while it alleges that Bronfman submitted "materially false and fraudulent statements" to a United States consulate, it does not identify those statements or explain why they were false. (Bronfman Mem. at 8-9.) He relies on Stringer, which notes that an indictment charging criminal falsity under certain statutes must specify "what statements are alleged to be false, and in what respect they are false." 730 F.3d at 126-27 (citing United States v. Pirro, 212 F.3d 86, 93 (2d Cir. 2000)) (discussing an indictment charging filing of a false tax return); United States v. Tonelli, 577 F.2d 194, 200 (3d Cir. 1978) (discussing an indictment charging a defendant with making false statements to a grand jury). But he offers no support for her assertion that § 1546(a) is one of those statutes; indeed, at least one other court has ruled that it is not such a statute. See United States v. Imran, No. 15-CR-259, 2015 WL 9008152, at *2 (E.D. Va. Dec. 15, 2015) (rejecting a similar argument that a § 1546(a) charge lacked specificity). Moreover, the purpose of the rule articulated in Stringer is to ensure that a defendant has proper notice of the charges against him. See Stringer, 730 F.3d at 126 ("[F]or certain statutes[,] specification of how a particular element of a criminal charge will be met (as opposed to categorical recitation of the element) is of such importance to the fairness of the proceeding that it must be spelled out in the indictment."); United States v. Rigas, 490 F.3d 208, 229 (2d Cir. 2007) ("When the crime charged involves making false statements, the 'core of criminality' is not the substance of the false statements but rather that knowing falsehoods were submitted.... In our opinion, Defendants were notified of the 'core of criminality' the government intended to prove." (citations and quotation marks omitted)). Here, Raniere has sufficient notice. Act Eleven makes clear that the false statements are in an offer-of-employment letter that Bronfman sent to the United States Consulate in support of another person's visa application (Indictment ¶ 35), and the Government gave her the document in question (Gov't Second Mem. at 25 & n.5). The Government did not also need to highlight the particular statements in the document that were allegedly false. See Imran, 2015 WL 9008152, at *2 : c.f. United States v. Kamdar, No. 04-CR-156, 2009 WL 2407676, at *2-3 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 5, 2009) (citing Rigas and finding that an indictment charging mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 did not need to "identify the false representations allegedly made by defendant").

2. Act One-A: Constitutionality of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)

As noted above, Act One-A contains a to-wit clause, which alleges that the underlying offense was "bringing in, transporting and harboring an alien, in violation of [ 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A) ]." (Indictment ¶ 19.) That statute has four subsections. Raniere argues that one of them-18 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) ("Subsection (iv)"), which makes it a crime to "encourage[ ] or induce[ ] an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law"-is overbroad in violation of the First Amendment, as well as unconstitutionally vague and discriminatory. (Bronfman Reply at 8; Bronfman Suppl. Mem. (Dkt. 233); Bronfman Suppl. Reply (Dkt. 391).)

The Government represents that it can prove Raniere effected the crime by means of any of the three remaining subsections of § 1324 (a)(1)(A). (Gov't Second Mem. at 22 n.13.) Therefore, while the court has serious doubts about the constitutionality of Subsection (iv), see United States v. Sineneng-Smith, 910 F.3d 461, 471 (9th Cir. 2018) (holding that Subsection (iv) is overbroad in violation of the First Amendment), the court need not decide that question now. After trial, if Raniere believes that the Government's evidence has only proven a violation of Subsection (iv) and none of the other three subsections, he may renew his motion to dismiss Act One-A.

3. "Pattern" Element: Whether the Predicate Acts are Related

Raniere argues that Count Two's predicate acts are insufficiently related to each other. (Bronfman Second Mem. at 10.) He repeats the same arguments that he made about Count One. (Id. ) The court rejects them for the same reasons. Counts One and Two appear to include the same predicate acts, but Count Two describes them in greater detail, indicating individual perpetrators and approximate dates for each act. Thus, if Count One contains facts that "evidence continuity and relatedness," so does Count Two. Giovannelli, 2004 WL 48869, at *3 (citing H.J., Inc., 492 U.S. at 239, 109 S.Ct. 2893 ).

4. Duplicity: Whether Count One Charges Multiple Conspiracies

For the same reasons that Count One is not pleaded duplicitously, neither is Count Two.

C. Acts Two, Three, and Four: Child Pornography

Raniere moves to dismiss or sever Acts Two, Three, and Four, which are premised on sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe 2, a minor, allegedly recovered from Raniere's hard drive, arguing that they are neither related to the other racketeering acts nor to the charged enterprise. (Raniere Second Mem. at 5-8.) The court is not aware of any authority for the proposition that it may dismiss or sever individual racketeering acts pretrial because they do not appear related to the other acts in an otherwise valid RICO charge. See Urso, 369 F. Supp. 2d at 262 (E.D.N.Y. 2005) (noting that a defendant had cited "no precedent whatsoever in support of the extraordinary proposition that some racketeering acts may be severed from the other racketeering acts charged under a single count of racketeering"); see also Messina, 2012 WL 463973, at *4 & n.1 (rejecting pretrial challenge to "relatedness" in a criminal RICO case as premature). In any event, the Government has properly alleged that these acts were vertically and horizontally related. Per the Government, Jane Doe 2 was a member of the Enterprise and Raniere took these photos for his own benefit and contemporaneously with similar photographs of other members of the charged enterprise. (Gov't Second Mem. at 2.) Thus, Acts Two, Three, and Four had similar purposes and participants as Count Two's other acts-suggesting horizontal relatedness-and Raniere was able to commit them because of his involvement in the Enterprise-suggesting vertical relatedness. See Reich, 858 F.3d at 61 (defining horizontal and vertical relatedness); Vernace, 811 F.3d at 615 (same).

D. Count Six And Act Thirteen: Forced Labor

1. Overview of the Charges

Count Six charges Raniere (along with Mack and Lauren Salzman) with a forced-labor conspiracy, i.e., with conspiring to provide and obtain the labor and services of one or more lower-ranking DOS members by means of force, physical restraints (or threats of physical restraints), or serious harm (or threats of it) between September 2015 and June 2017 within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, in violation of § 1589(a). (Indictment ¶ 44.) The Indictment states that they conspired to provide and obtain the labor and services of lower-ranking DOS members by means of force and threats of force, harm and threats of harm, and threats to reveal damaging collateral. (Id.; see Compl. ¶ 42 (detailing the collateral used).)

Act Thirteen of Count Two alleges that Lauren Salzman obtained the labor and services of Jane Doe 6 by means of force, physical restraints (or threats of physical restraints), or serious harm (or threats of it) between September 2015 and June 2017 within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, in violation of § 1589(a).

2. Motions to Dismiss

Raniere moves to dismiss Count Six and Act Thirteen for failure to plead the crimes alleged with sufficient specificity and, with respect to Count Six, failure to state an offense. (Raniere First Mem. at 17; L. Salzman First Mem. at 17-19; Mack First Mem. at 6-17; L. Salzman Second Mem. at 4-5.) The court denies Raniere's motion for the following reasons.

i. Specificity

Raniere adopts Mack's and Lauren Salzman's arguments that Count Six is pleaded improperly because the alleged 21-month time span is overly broad, and because it does not identify with specificity the "lower-ranking DOS members" whose labor was compelled, the "serious harm" that Defendants allegedly threatened to inflict on their victims, or what "labor and services" were obtained through threats. (Raniere Second Mem. at 1; see Mack First Mem. at 6-11; L. Salzman First Mem. at 17-19; L. Salzman Second Mem. at 4-5.) According to Raniere, charges involving threats, like § 1589(a), must identify specific victims. (Id. at 8 (citing Sira v. Morton, 380 F.3d 57, 73 (2d Cir. 2004) ); see L. Salzman First Mem. at 17.) Further, he states, Count Six is deficient because it merely recites three of the four means of illegally compelling forced labor that § 1589(a) lists, without specifying which means were used by Defendants. (Id. at 9 (citing United States v. Peterson, 544 F. Supp. 2d 1363, 1375 (M.D. Ga. 2008) ); see L. Salzman First Mem. at 18-19.) Per Raniere, tracking generic statutory language is insufficient here because this case involves "an entirely voluntary organization"-DOS-"distinct from a typical forced labor situation." (Id. (citing Pirro, 212 F.3d at 92 ; Russell, 369 U.S. at 768, 82 S.Ct. 1038 ).) "Without more specificity," he claims he does not know (1) what the Government finds criminal about the alleged conduct or (2) what labor and services were illegally obtained. (Mack First Mem. at 9.)

Essentially, Raniere complains of a lack of notice as to the accusations against him. If the Indictment were the only notice that he had received as to Count Two, he might have a good argument. But, as the Government notes (Gov't First Mem. at 49), the complaint and the Raniere detention letter contain significant detail as to the forced-labor charges, including reference to particular victims, statements by witnesses, and specific electronic communications. (Compl. ¶¶ 15-21, 25-29, 36-39, 42-51; Raniere Detention Letter at 1-3.) Additionally, the Government represents that it has provided ample discovery relating to Count Six, such as the names of victims and conspirators. (Gov't First Mem. at 49.)

Raniere does not dispute that he has received this information. (See Mack Reply (Dkt. 254) at 3.) Nor does he claim to be unaware of the names of the "lower-ranking DOS members" that Count Six references or of the Government's theory of the forced-labor conspiracy. Indeed, despite complaining of a lack of notice, he simultaneously argues that-based on the forced labor and the threats alleged in the complaint-Count Two fails to state a forced-labor offense, suggesting that he does in fact have notice of the Government's theory. (Mack Mem. at 11-17.) Considering "the record as a whole" and not just the Indictment, Walsh, 194 F.3d at 45, Raniere appears to know the specific facts that are most "importan[t] to the fairness of the proceeding." Stringer, 730 F.3d at 126 ; see id. at 127 (holding that an indictment need not include the name of an identity-theft victim, so long as the Government provides the name at the defendant's request); Stavroulakis, 952 F.2d at 693 ("When an indictment delineates the elements of a charged offense,