2.Keith Donato — Direct/Cross
302 linesMR. LESKO: The Government calls Dr. Keith Donato, Your Honor.
(Witness sworn/affirmed.)
THE COURT: Please be seated and state and spell your full name for the record.
KEITH DONATO: Keith Donato. K-E-I-T-H D-O-N-A-T-O.
THE COURT: You may inquire.
MR. LESKO: Thank you, Judge.
(Continued on the following page.)
KEITH DONATO, called by the Government, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LESKO:
MR. LESKO: Good morning.
KEITH DONATO: Good morning.
MR. LESKO: Dr. Donato, where do you live?
KEITH DONATO: Ballston Spa, New York.
MR. LESKO: Is that in Upstate, New York?
KEITH DONATO: Correct.
MR. LESKO: Is it near Albany?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, just north of Albany.
MR. LESKO: And what do you do for a living?
KEITH DONATO: I'm a chiropractor.
MR. LESKO: And could you describe your practice as a chiropractor?
KEITH DONATO: Yes. I treat many different musculoskeletal overuse, sports-injury-type conditions and injuries.
MR. LESKO: And you're a doctor?
KEITH DONATO: Correct.
MR. LESKO: What type of a doctor are you?
KEITH DONATO: A doctor of chiropractic.
MR. LESKO: And what's is the name of your practice?
KEITH DONATO: I just use my name, Keith Donato DC.
MR. LESKO: And how long have you been in practice?
KEITH DONATO: 23 years.
MR. LESKO: Do you have a license?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, I do.
MR. LESKO: And where is your office?
KEITH DONATO: My office is in Saratoga Springs, New York.
MR. LESKO: Are you familiar with an organization called NXIVM?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: How are you familiar with NXIVM?
KEITH DONATO: I treated many of the people involved in the organization.
MR. LESKO: Can you name some of them?
KEITH DONATO: Yes. Keith Raniere, Nancy Saltzman, Lauren Saltzman, Pam Cafritz, Mark Vicente, Daniella Padilla, Loreta Garza, Marianna, Jimena Garza, Omar Boone, Edgar Boone, Esther Carlson, Kathy Russell. Those are the ones that immediately come to my mind.
MR. LESKO: And we're going to be talking a little bit about Marianna. Let's call her Marianna.
KEITH DONATO: Okay.
MR. LESKO: Do you see Mr. Raniere in the courtroom today?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, I do.
MR. LESKO: Can you describe him by an article of clothing that he may be wearing?
KEITH DONATO: He's wearing the burgundy sweater.
THE COURT: All right. Let the record reflect the witness identified the defendant.
BY MR. LESKO:
MR. LESKO: Can you tell us how the defendant became a patient of yours?
KEITH DONATO: Keith came to my office. I believe it was around 2008, as a patient.
MR. LESKO: And could you describe the circumstances under which he became a patient?
KEITH DONATO: Yeah, I mean, what was most notable to me or different than most of my patients was that I would say I was prepped for when I was going to begin treating him. I believe either Clare Bronfman, Barbara Jeske or Nancy Saltzman; I can't remember exactly who, just kind of prepared me that, you know, Keith was -- was kind of lived a monk-like existence, for lack of a better term; that he didn't drive so he would be being brought to his appointments. Somebody would be paying for his appointments, making appointments for him. So I was just kind of prepped, as I said, that that was a little bit odd compared to 99 percent of my adult patients.
MR. LESKO: Did you have an understanding as to the defendant's role in NXIVM?
KEITH DONATO: Yes. That part of the prep was that Keith was, you know, the -- the leader or the brains of this self-empowerment group and everyone spoke very highly of him and looked up to him.
MR. LESKO: And so you were told that he would not pay for himself?
KEITH DONATO: Correct.
MR. LESKO: So how -- did you have an understanding as to -- regarding how you would be compensated for treating the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: I just believed that whoever was prepping me let me know that whoever was bringing him -- initially I didn't know who would be bringing him, but it was said that whoever brings him will be paying for his visits so don't expect -- he's not going to be paying so collect the compensation from whoever brought him.
MR. LESKO: And how do you in your business handle booking appointments and receiving compensation?
KEITH DONATO: Well, I'm a one-man show so I do it all. I schedule everyone, I collect payments. I make statements up so it's all me.
MR. LESKO: And do you remember the first time you treated the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: Other than what I stated as far as being prepped and someone bringing him and other than that it was nothing unordinary about it.
MR. LESKO: Do you recall how you were paid?
KEITH DONATO: Yeah. Again, I can't remember who paid for that first visit. I may have been Clare Bronfman or Pam Cafritz but he didn't pay. I know that.
MR. LESKO: So how often did you treat the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: I would see Keith regularly, sometimes weekly depending on his activity level which at times could be substantial. I may not see him for a little while based on scheduling or what was going on but for a period of time I would say I saw him regularly, weekly, every other week.
MR. LESKO: Did you treat him for injuries?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, yeah, I treated him for injuries. It was treatment for overuse activity level and even kind of preventive care, I would think. He, like many of the people in the community, looked at the type of work I did as kind of part of their healthcare regimen so I saw him regularly.
MR. LESKO: Did you actually put your hands on his body?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Can you describe the sort of treatments that you provided to the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: Well, the technique that I do is very soft-tissue based, meaning it's kind of an advanced form of massage or soft tissue so a lot of the work that I did not only on Keith but a lot of my patients is hands-on myofacial sort of work.
MR. LESKO: The defendant first became a patient in what year again?
KEITH DONATO: 2008.
MR. LESKO: And when did he stop being your patient?
KEITH DONATO: I believe it was around the fall of 2017.
MR. LESKO: So during that time period when the defendant would arrive for treatments, would he arrive alone or was he accompanied by anyone else?
KEITH DONATO: Most of the time -- he was always accompanied by someone else and most of the time he was accompanied by Pam Cafritz and Marianna.
MR. LESKO: And during the times when he was accompanied by Pam Cafritz and Marianna, who paid for his treatment?
KEITH DONATO: Pam Cafritz always paid.
MR. LESKO: And how would she do that?
KEITH DONATO: She always paid with a credit card.
MR. LESKO: And describe how that physically happened, would she provide you the card, would she swipe the card? How would that work?
KEITH DONATO: Well, originally I had kind of a bit of an antiquated credit card system where someone would hand me the card, I would slide it and the paper would come out and I would hand the paper to her and she would sign it. And over the last few years I upped my technology to using what's called a square reader, which is an app on my phone that I can plug a strip reader into and I would slide the card. The process would go through, I would hand the patient my phone, which has an area to sign on, they would sign, press "Charge" and that's mostly the way it would go.
MR. LESKO: So let's just discuss this square reader just briefly.
KEITH DONATO: Sure.
MR. LESKO: Was it a little device that plugs into your phone?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And it has the ability to swipe a card through it?
KEITH DONATO: Exactly, into the -- into the headphone jack. That's where I plug it in and it has a little slot for a credit card to slide through and it reads the strip on the card and the screen spins around as it's processing the card. Once the charge is accepted, it pulls up a screen for the cardholder's signature.
MR. LESKO: And you use the Square app on your phone to do all of this?
KEITH DONATO: Correct, yes.
MR. LESKO: Is there an alternative way to process a credit card on the Square app?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, there's a chip reader and there's also manual entries. So on the app, if someone does not have the card with them and I press "Charge," it goes to manual card entry, I would press that to access that screen and a screen, much like a phone with numbers, comes up and the patient can then manually punch in the numbers for their credit card and the expiration date.
MR. LESKO: Very well. And you give them your phone and they sit and punch the numbers in?
KEITH DONATO: Correct. Sometimes I'll hold it for them. But mostly they're manually entering and I'm not holding anyone's cards.
MR. LESKO: Did there come a time when you began holding regular appointments for members of the NXIVM community outside of your office for NXIVM members?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: When did that happen?
KEITH DONATO: It was August of 2016.
MR. LESKO: Could you describe those situations, please?
KEITH DONATO: Well, around that time Pam Cafritz, her -- she had become, her health had deteriorated to the point that travel became difficult for her and at that point Clare Bronfman had requested if I would be willing to spend a day at a location. It turned out to be Nancy Salzman's house to treat everyone and at the time I was treating so many of the community, it worked out for me schedule-wise to be able to just condense everybody into one day and go down to Nancy's house. And I liked Pam and I was fine easing the burden of travel on her at that time.
MR. LESKO: And do you remember, you may have said it, do you remember the day of the week?
KEITH DONATO: It was mainly Wednesdays. It may have changed once or twice in the scheduling. But 99 percent of the times it was Wednesdays.
MR. LESKO: So, did you schedule those appointments with people at NXIVM?
KEITH DONATO: I didn't do any of the scheduling. That was part of the agreement with Clare and Clare initially was doing all the scheduling --
MR. LESKO: Let me stop you there. At some point did someone named Sylvie take over the scheduling?
KEITH DONATO: Yeah, Sylvie took over the scheduling.
MR. LESKO: So you would go to Nancy Salzman's house and do appointments; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Correct.
MR. LESKO: Do you remember where in Nancy Saltzman house you did these --
KEITH DONATO: Yeah, in the basement.
MR. LESKO: How did you get paid when you went to Nancy Salzman's house?
KEITH DONATO: Well, because of the Square, the mobile app on the Square, I could bring my reader with me and everyone I treated with generally would bring a card with them and would be able to pay me right after the treatment at Nancy's house.
MR. LESKO: Did you treat the defendant at Nancy Salzman's house?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: How were you paid when you treated the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: The payment continued the same. Pam Cafritz always paid.
MR. LESKO: So did you become aware that Pam Cafritz passed away?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, I did.
MR. LESKO: And did you continue to see the defendant as a patient after she passed away?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And where -- where were those treatments? Were they at Nancy Salzman's or at your office?
KEITH DONATO: No. They were still at Nancy Salzman's house.
MR. LESKO: And, so, how were you paid for those treatment sessions, the ones involving the defendant after Pam Cafritz passed away?
KEITH DONATO: After Pam passed away, Marianna took over responsibility for covering the payments for Keith's visits and her visits also.
MR. LESKO: Okay. And, so, describe how that would work, how would that process happen?
KEITH DONATO: Well, the last view visits before Pam passed, she began to forget her credit card regularly and she would ask me if she could manually punch in the numbers for her card and I had no problem with that.
After she passed and Marianna took over the payments, the manual entry continued pretty much from that time forward from when I said Pam initially began the manual entry.
MR. LESKO: Let me break this down. So before Pam started deteriorating, her health deteriorating, did she always swipe the card, to the best of your knowledge?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, absolutely.
MR. LESKO: And then she starts to decline and she starts to manually enter the numbers into your app?
KEITH DONATO: Correct.
MR. LESKO: And then when Marianna started paying for the defendant's treatment, did she manually enter the numbers into your app?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, every time.
MR. LESKO: And did you have an understanding as to what credit card number she was entering into the app?
KEITH DONATO: I did not. I assumed it was her card.
MR. LESKO: Do you have an understanding now?
KEITH DONATO: I do.
MR. LESKO: What's your understanding?
KEITH DONATO: That they were -- Marianna was using Pam Cafritz's card.
MR. LESKO: Do you recall if the defendant ever in the whole time that you treated him if he ever actually conducted the payment?
KEITH DONATO: I believe one time he may have run out to -- at my office, Pam forgot her card every once in a while and I believe one time Keith ran back in and handed me the card for payment, one time.
MR. LESKO: And was that before Pam Cafritz died?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Were there instances where you would perform treatment on the defendant and no would was there to pay for it?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: What would happen then?
KEITH DONATO: Well, I generally would say to Keith who's covering -- who's paying today. I knew he wasn't paying for the treatment so I would ask him and he would either say Marianna would be coming by or Pam would be coming by, prior to Pam's passing of course, or Marianna will call you. So I knew I would have to have coordinate with someone -- with Marianna for payment.
MR. LESKO: And did that -- did that happen?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Was there a time when you weren't paid for your services?
KEITH DONATO: Never.
MR. LESKO: Your Honor if I could show an exhibit just to the witness, please.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. LESKO: Thank you.
MR. LESKO: Dr. Donato, I'm going to show you what's been marked for identification as Government Exhibit 710. Do you recognize this exhibit? And I will show you the multiple pages. They're allel pretty much identical?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: You've reviewed this exhibit haven't you?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Without getting into the details what's included in this exhibit?
KEITH DONATO: Well, payment amount, date, where it was collected, what device was used, who paid for the visit, the last four digits of a card number, a receipt number and it has a deposited amount which is less than the actual charge amount because of the Square reader charge and it says "Fees" and it indicates "swiped" which means a card was swiped.
MR. LESKO: Let me step back for a moment. Are these receipts or records that you received for payments you received for treating the defendant?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And do they range from September 7, 2016 through -- I show you the last page November 8, 2017.
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Your Honor we would offer Government Exhibit 710.
MR. AGNIFILO: No objection.
THE COURT: That is exhibit?
MR. LESKO: 710.
THE COURT: All right.
(Government Exhibit 710 received in evidence.)
(Exhibit published.)
BY MR. LESKO:
MR. LESKO: So these are the receipts from the Square reader transactions involving the defendant; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Let's look at the first page. I'm going to ask you a few questions about the first page here. So, it goes without saying -- the receipt, does it show an amount?
KEITH DONATO: Yeah, yes.
MR. LESKO: Okay. And it shows the date and time; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And the time -- okay. Obviously it shows your name, the name of the practice; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And the device, when it says "Keith's iPhone" is that referring to your phone?
KEITH DONATO: Yes it is.
MR. LESKO: And the "Paid By," what does the "Paid By" indicate?
KEITH DONATO: That's the name of the cardholder.
MR. LESKO: And then it goes through amounts and then this line, is that where the Square receipt indicates the last four digits of the American Express card that was used?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And it gives some sort of number to the receipt; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And then you mentioned the amount deposited is more than the amount actually billed; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: No --
MR. LESKO: I'm sorry, less than -- I'm sorry, why is it less?
KEITH DONATO: That's the fee charged by Square for their service, for their credit card processing service.
MR. LESKO: That makes sense, okay. And then -- under "Fees" it indicates this sort of way the transaction was conducted; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: So what does "Swiped" mean?
KEITH DONATO: "Swiped" is again when I have the -- the swipe -- I put the jack into my phone and I swipe the card through the reader. So that's when I actually -- the card is used to swipe -- to process the transaction.
MR. LESKO: Okay. So I'm going to go to -- I'm going to just very quickly show you the second page. That's September 14, 2016. At the bottom it indicates "Swiped;" is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: September, is that clear -- September 21, 2016 at the bottom "Swiped"; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: September 28th, "Swiped"; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: October 12, 2016, "Swiped"?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Okay. And then October 19th, at the bottom there, did the method -- did the method of payment change?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And so how did it change?
KEITH DONATO: Well, it indicates under "Fees" that the transaction was keyed in and that's -- that's what I explained earlier about one of the options for payment is when I pull up a screen on my phone that a patient can manually enter in numbers if they don't have their card with them.
MR. LESKO: And is this the time period when Pam Cafritz's health was declining?
KEITH DONATO: I believe so, based on the date, yes.
MR. LESKO: So there's a payment on November 2, 2016 and that's a keyed payment; is that right?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And then the next record is dated November 16, 2016, right after Pam Cafritz's death. And does that indicate a type of -- the method of payment?
KEITH DONATO: Yes. It indicates "Keyed."
MR. LESKO: Okay. And, so, have you reviewed the remaining invoices -- or receipts, I'm sorry, in this Exhibit 710?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, I have.
MR. LESKO: Okay. And from this date November 16, 2016, until the last record -- the last receipt dated November 8, 2017, how many receipts are there?
KEITH DONATO: There are 35.
MR. LESKO: And so those would correspond to 35 treatments over the course of approximately a year; is that accurate?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And what are the amounts charged in those 35 receipts?
KEITH DONATO: They range from 145 to $285.
MR. LESKO: And why the difference?
KEITH DONATO: Well, based on some days I just -- I just treated Keith. Some days I treated Keith and Marianna. The times of treatment also varied, different days based on what I was treating for.
MR. LESKO: Okay. Did each -- did you treat the defendant on each of these 35 occasions?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And so the charges may have reflected treating the defendant and someone else like Marianna?
KEITH DONATO: Yeah, any charges that were not just Keith would be always, would always be Keith and Marianna.
MR. LESKO: And these charges -- for these charges were they -- were they always charged to the Pamela Cafritz's credit card, the American Express with the number ending 2002?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
(Continued on the following page.)
BY MR. LESKO: (Continuing)
MR. LESKO: Did they -- did the charges on Pamela Cafritz's card, credit card after her death always go through?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: Were they ever declined or kicked back or anything?
KEITH DONATO: Never.
MR. LESKO: Okay. So what, if anything, did you observe about the physical condition of the female patients that you treated that were associated with NXIVM?
KEITH DONATO: There were some women that were skinny.
MR. LESKO: And was that noticeable?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. LESKO: And did you ever express concern about that and, particularly, the health of patients' diets in connection with the NXIVM patients?
KEITH DONATO: I did have a particular conversation with a patient, Jimena Garza, about her caloric intake based on her, what I would say lack of muscle density and how often she was, she was coming in with injuries and how much she recorded she was exercising.
MR. LESKO: And what did you tell her?
KEITH DONATO: Well, my suspicion initially was that she was maybe not providing herself with enough nutrition and supplementation based on the amount of exercise, exercising she was doing and by the fact that she was getting injured so often.
MR. LESKO: Okay. Did you ever have a discussion with the defendant about low caloric intake?
KEITH DONATO: Yes. Keith and I spoke one time about -- he, he was, he was talking about, you know, the body's ability to function under lower caloric intakes during times of hunting, gathering, things like that, where it was between hunts that the body's physiology was capable of, of functioning at lower caloric intakes during those periods.
MR. LESKO: During the time period that you treated the defendant, when you were physically manipulating him, did he have a body type consistent with someone who ingested a very low amount of calories?
KEITH DONATO: Professionally, I would say no based on his muscle density and his, again, recorded to me activity amount and level of intensity.
MR. LESKO: During the time that you treated women patients, women patients associated with NXIVM, did they indicate to you a need to be near their cell phones during their treatments?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, there was a period of time that did take place.
MR. LESKO: And could you describe that, please?
KEITH DONATO: I mean, I always remember it being somewhere around 3 o'clock, a number, whatever female patients I may have around that time who was very, "I need to keep my phone near me," and it became such a constant with some of the women in the community that I, my curiosity got the best of me and I said, What's going on with all of this, you know, phones at 3 o'clock? You know, it was always 3 o'clock. And they told me it was part of this women's empowerment group that they were all part of and responding to text messages within a certain period of time was part of persistency drills that they were all engaged in, a part of.
MR. LESKO: And do you recall who explained that to you?
KEITH DONATO: I remember speaking with Allison Mack about it a few times. Lauren Salzman and I spoke about it a few times. Loreta Garza also was one that I remember speaking with and her grabbing her phone during treatments.
MR. LESKO: And you treated Allison Mack?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, I did.
MR. LESKO: Was she a regular patient of yours?
KEITH DONATO: I treated Allison a number of times but I wouldn't say she was regular. I saw her more sporadically.
MR. LESKO: Nothing further, Your Honor.
MR. AGNIFILO: Just a couple of questions.
THE COURT: All right. The witness is excused --
MR. AGNIFILO: No. No. I do have a couple of questions.
THE COURT: You have questions?
MR. AGNIFILO: I do.
THE COURT: Then you are not excused.
Okay.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. AGNIFILO:
MR. AGNIFILO: Good morning, Dr. Donato. I only have a couple of questions for you. My name is Marc Agnifilo. I'm Keith Raniere's lawyer. If I ask you a question that is in any way not clear, just ask me to rephrase it and I have no problem at all with that.
KEITH DONATO: Okay.
MR. AGNIFILO: You never noticed any of the women that you said were kind of skinny suffering from hair loss, right?
KEITH DONATO: No, I did not.
MR. AGNIFILO: And you never saw that any of them seemed malnourished, correct?
KEITH DONATO: I did see some that were malnourished.
MR. AGNIFILO: Was that Loreta?
KEITH DONATO: No, it was not.
MR. AGNIFILO: Who was it?
KEITH DONATO: Sylvie and also Pamela Cafritz.
MR. AGNIFILO: And did Sylvie, when did you first see her, when did you first meet her?
KEITH DONATO: I don't remember exactly but I would say 2012, 2013, in that time frame. I don't have the exact date in front of me.
MR. AGNIFILO: And was she very skinny when you first met her in 2012, '13?
KEITH DONATO: Yes, she was.
MR. AGNIFILO: And did she gain weight as time went on at different periods of time?
KEITH DONATO: If she did, it was imperceptible.
MR. AGNIFILO: And how many different women in NXIVM would you say you treated, if you had to ballpark the number?
KEITH DONATO: Thirty to 35.
MR. AGNIFILO: Okay. Over what period of time are we talking?
KEITH DONATO: 2007 until 2018.
MR. AGNIFILO: Okay. And do you -- I just want to direct your attention to one particular page of the government exhibit we just were talking about. This is page -- 710 is the exhibit and it's page, page 42.
MR. AGNIFILO: I'm just going to show this to the doctor for a second.
THE COURT: This is in evidence.
MR. AGNIFILO: It is, Judge, as Government Exhibit 710.
THE COURT: Go ahead.
MR. AGNIFILO: This is a $145 payment from October 11, 2017, correct?
KEITH DONATO: Yes.
MR. AGNIFILO: Okay. And by this point, Pam has been, had passed away about 11 months before?
KEITH DONATO: I don't -- she had passed, I guess, yes, in 2016, the fall. Okay. That sounds about right.
MR. AGNIFILO: Right. And you didn't think anybody was doing anything wrong when you were, this payment was processed, correct?
MR. LESKO: Objection. Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MR. AGNIFILO: Would you have processed the payment if you thought it was wrong?
KEITH DONATO: Would I have?
MR. AGNIFILO: Yeah.
KEITH DONATO: No, I would not have.