Edited by: TJVNews.com

Nancy Salzman, the co-founder of the controversial NXIVM sex cult, has been released from federal prison early, less than 20 months into her three-and-a-half-year sentence for her involvement in the group’s activities, as was recently reported in the New York Post.  Salzman, 69, had been serving her sentence for playing a senior role in Keith Raniere’s twisted sex cult, the report added.

Federal Bureau of Prisons records indicate that Salzman has been transferred from a Hazelton, West Virginia prison to a halfway house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, according to the Post report. This move comes after Salzman requested her release from prison in July, citing concerns about breast cancer.

At a hearing in July, Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis expressed his apprehension about Salzman’s health and stated that he did not want her prison term to become a “death sentence,” as was noted by the Post.  Salzman had two prior occurrences of breast cancer in 2011 and 2018. Consequently, Judge Garaufis ordered the Bureau of Prisons to conduct an MRI exam on Salzman to address her health concerns, the Post report added. However, it remains unclear whether her release is directly related to the MRI results.

The Post also reported that Salzman claimed she had been waiting 16 1/2 weeks to receive an MRI following a concerning ultrasound from March 23.

Under the 2018 First Step Act, Salzman was eligible for compassionate release on September 7, 2023, to either home confinement or a halfway house if she maintained good behavior. The Post reported also said that according to Bureau of Prisons records, her current release date from custody is June 17, 2024, which is nearly nine months ahead of the original end date of her 42-month sentence.

Salzman was sentenced to prison in September 2021 after pleading guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. As was related in the Post report, her guilty plea was related to her involvement in hacking the emails of NXIVM’s opponents and destroying evidence that could have been used against the bizarre cult, which was based in Albany, New York. She began serving out her sentence in January 2022.

Throughout her legal ordeal, Salzman maintained that she had no knowledge of NXIVM’s clandestine sex ring known as DOS. The Post also reported that in this secret society, women were subjected to harsh conditions, branded with Raniere’s initials, and coerced into having sexual relations with him. Keith Raniere himself 63, was sentenced to 120 years behind bars in 2019 for his role in running the cult, the report noted.

Salzman’s release echoes the case of another high-ranking cult member, actress Allison Mack of “Smallville” fame, who was released to a halfway house on July 5, serving less than two years of her three-year sentence for her involvement in coercing women into becoming sex slaves for Raniere, according to the Post report.

As news of Salzman’s release surfaces, questions remain regarding the circumstances surrounding her early release and whether it is indeed related to her health concerns. The Bureau of Prisons has yet to provide an official comment on this matter, the Post reported.