Heiress pleads guilty in NXIVM sex slave case

NEW YORK (AP) — A wealthy heiress has pleaded guilty to charges implicating her in a sex-trafficking conspiracy case against an upstate New York self-help group.

Clare Bronfman entered the plea on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn.

The plea means the 40-year-old Bronfman will avoid going to trial early next month with Keith Raniere. He's known as the spiritual leader of the group called NXIVM (NEHK'-see-uhm).

Prosecutors say Bronfman was bankrolling Raniere's group at a time when he had a secret harem of sex slaves who were branded with his initials.

Sentencing is set for July 25.

Bronfman is a daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr.