NEW YORK — NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere is asking for a new trial on grounds the FBI allegedly tampered with a photo of a nude woman to make it seem as if she was underage.
The convicted pedophile, 61, claims the outcome of his 2019 trial in Brooklyn Federal Court would have been different had jurors been aware of the alleged evidence tampering.
The FBI allegedly changed the date of a photo of a woman Raniere had dated to make it seem as if it was taken in 2005 — when she would have been under the legal age of consent to be photographed nude.
“There is evidence that computer data related to digital photographs taken of a nude female were materially altered to make it appear that these photographs were taken in 2005,” Raniere’s attorney Joseph Tully wrote in a Thursday filing. “The government used the year 2005 to establish the female as being under the age of eighteen, making the photographs contraband.”
The argument was based on an affidavit from a former FBI agent, Richard Kiper, who said the folder holding the photos had “all the hallmarks of fraud” and that the feds “manual altered” the evidence to fit their narrative.
In one photo on the drive, the thumbnail image was originally of a blond woman, but inexplicably turned into a thumbnail of a brunette, Kiper claimed.
The feds declined to comment on Raniere’s submission to a federal appellate court.
The Daily News does not have access to the evidence cited in the filing. Tully did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The long-haired leader, set to be released from federal prison in the year 2120, ran Albany-based organization NXIVM, which painted itself as a revolutionary self-improvement company that could help its followers become their best selves.
He was convicted of sex trafficking and sleeping with minors, along with racketeering, forced labor and wire fraud. Raniere also had women followers branded with his initials over their pubic area.
He is set to argue his appeal of his conviction before a federal court on May 3.
-------
