Shock twist in Allison Mack Nxivm sex cult case

The former ‘Smallville’ star received a massive change to her sentence over her role as a high-ranking member of Keith Raniere’s sex slave group, Nxivm.

Allison Mack, the former actress and high-ranking member of sex slave cult Nxivm, has been released from prison a year early.

The star of “Smallville” was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to racketeering charges for her role in Keith Raniere’s so-called “self-help” group.

But she was released with 12 months left to serve after earning credit for “good conduct” under the new First Step Act law passed by former president Donald Trump, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a statement.

The Nxivm sex cult became a global sensation as sordid details of the upstate New York group played out in court and blockbuster documentaries, Seduced and The Vow.

Allison Mack was released from prison after serving two years of her three year sentence. Picture: AFP

Mack avoided a 40-year sentence by pleading guilty and flipping on the group’s leader, Raniere, 60, who was sentenced to 120 years imprisonment for sex trafficking – an effective life sentence.

His 40-year-old racketeering accomplice, who was also fined US $20,000 ($A30,000) and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, was released from the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, California on Monday.

It’s the same facility where actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were held after convictions in a college admissions scandal.

“While we don’t discuss a specific inmate’s release method, we can share that an inmate may earn good conduct time,” a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said in a statement.

Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years imprisonment for sex trafficking, an effective life sentence. Picture: Supplied

Mack, who had once been a rising Hollywood star, called her role in Nxivm the biggest mistake of her life. Picture: Supplied

“Additionally, inmates may release up to 12 months early if they complete the BOP’s Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), and inmates may release early via court order such as a compassionate release (due to old age and medical conditions) or clemency.”

Prosecutors said Mack helped recruit women for Nxivm’s secretive subgroup, DOS. The women in DOS were branded with Raniere’s initials and coerced into labour and sex.

Before she was sentenced, Mack released a statement apologising for her involvement in the cult as “the biggest mistake and greatest regret” of her life.

“I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had,” she continued. “I believed, wholeheartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him.”

Originally published as Shock twist in Allison Mack Nxivm sex cult case