NXIVM update: Seagram's heiress sentenced to more than 6 years in branded sex slave case

NEW YORK (WPIX/AP) -- A wealthy benefactor of the disgraced leader of an upstate New York self-improvement group has been sentenced to more than six years in prison in connection with a federal sex slave case.

Seagram's liquor fortune heiress Clare Bronfman appeared in federal court Wednesday in Brooklyn, where a judge handed her an 81-month prison sentence. She was immediately taken into custody to begin her sentence.

Bronfman's lawyers wanted her to get only three years of probation, but prosecutors said she deserves five years behind bars for her support of Keith Raniere.

Raniere was convicted of charges last year accusing him of turning some of his followers into sex slaves branded with his initials.

Raniere is known as the leader of the group NXIVM. Prosecutors say the organization operated like a cult, in which members formed a secret sorority comprised of brainwashed female “slaves” who were forced to have sex with Raniere.

Long affiliated with NXIVM, Bronfman reportedly provided millions of dollars to bankroll Raniere and his program of self-improvement classes and paid for lawyers to defend the group against a lawsuit filed by critics.

From Clare Bronfman's LinkedIn page: