Nicholas G. Garaufis

Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis presided over Raniere's trial, instructing the anonymous jury on the presumption of innocence, the government's burden of proof, and the distinction between admitted and excluded evidence. He denied a defense mistrial request concerning protected witness names and instructed jurors not to infer guilt or non-guilt from withheld surnames.

His evidentiary rulings addressed how jurors could use testimony and documents concerning DOS. He required individualized limiting instructions for certain statements and struck Lauren Salzman's repetition of Kristin's and Carly's accounts of providing collateral and joining DOS. He explained that recordings, not accompanying transcript aids, were evidence, and that expert testimony did not establish that charged crimes occurred. During Nicole's cross-examination, he allowed specific questions to refresh her recollection without admitting an entire collection of Telegram screenshots.

The termination of Salzman's cross-examination drew a sustained defense challenge. Garaufis maintained the cutoff, citing her condition and repeated questioning. He later denied the defense motion concerning that limit, noting that counsel had not timely requested reopening.

At the close of evidence, Garaufis denied the defense motion for acquittal and accepted Raniere's waiver of testimony; the defense rested without presenting a case. During charge conferences, he resolved disputes over racketeering and commercial-sex-act language, added tax-willfulness instructions, and rejected a separate witness-bias instruction while acknowledging the defense objection. He and his law clerks delivered the final charge on seven counts and eleven alleged racketeering acts, including unanimity and deliberation rules. He also adopted a supplemental instruction that Internet use affects interstate commerce, preserving the defense objection to its breadth.

After the jury convicted Raniere on all seven counts, Garaufis determined the sentence at the October 27, 2020 hearing. He partially sustained defense sentencing objections but calculated offense level 49 and a Guidelines range of life imprisonment. He imposed 120 years in prison and a $1.75 million fine.