Donald Trump’s former executive Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to 5 months in prison

[ad_1]

Allen Weisselberg, a former top executive in Donald Trump’s business empire who pleaded guilty to committing tax fraud by accepting $1.8mn in off the books perks, has been sentenced to five months in prison.

The former chief financial officer at the Trump Organization admitted in August to hiding details of his paid company New York apartment and luxury cars from tax authorities for 15 years.

The crimes to which he pleaded guilty carry a maximum combined sentence of about 15 years, but Manhattan prosecutors offered Weisselberg a reduced sentence if he testified truthfully against his former employer in a related criminal case.

The Trump Organization was convicted of 17 counts of tax fraud in December, following a trial in which Weisselberg was the star witness.

The 75-year-old fought back tears as he testified during the trial that he acted out of personal greed, but also confirmed that his business pay arrangement was convenient for the company.

Prosecutors showed a lease Trump signed for the Upper West Side riverside apartment where Weisselberg and his wife have lived since 2005. The rent was paid by the Trump Organization, as was private tuition for two of the Weisselbergs’ grandchildren.

Weisselberg testified that such practices were quickly abandoned at the Trump Organization once Trump was elected president, and that a cleanup process was undertaken to ensure we got everything right.

Mr Weisselberg described in detail the manner in which the tax evasion scheme was carried out…at the Trump Organization, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger told the court on Tuesday.

Under cross-examination, he gave significant testimony about his guilt…and the benefits provided to the Trump Organization, he added, asking the judge to impose a six-month sentence.

The court promised a five-month sentence, and the Weisselbergs’ lawyer, Nicholas Gravante, asked if it could be reduced.

Every month makes a big difference when you’re 75-years-old, he said, and asked if his client, who is far from perfect health, could serve half of his sentence under house arrest.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan was unconvinced, and said he would impose a harsher sentence because the court found some of the revelations about Weisselberg’s behavior to be so painful.

In particular, Merchan said that a $6,000 payroll payment to Weisselbergs wife to allow her to contribute to social security, and one day receive benefits she was not entitled to, indicated the greed of the convicted executive, who earned a seven-figure salary.

Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump family in multiple capacities since 1973, will serve his five-month sentence at Rikers Island, where 19 inmates have died, in 2022. He will also serve five years of probation and has already returned more at $2 million to the state.

Recommended

Dressed in a green fur and wearing a blue mask, he added only one sentence to his lawyers’ arguments, saying: I think the words expressed by Mr Gravante express my thoughts and feelings. Weisselberg was immediately taken into custody and will begin serving his sentence on Tuesday.

In Manhattan, you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement following the sentencing.

These consequential felony convictions reflect the entire work of President Trumps former company and the actions of its CFO, added Bragg, who inherited the case against Weisselberg from his predecessor Cyrus Vance.

The Trump Organization is scheduled to be sentenced Friday. It is unlikely to be fined more than $1mn, but could face difficulties in getting loans, making deals and getting or keeping government contracts.

The company, as well as Trump, are facing separate civil lawsuits brought by the New York attorney-general, accusing the former president and his entities of inflating the value of valuable assets.

Trump’s lawyers have called both proceedings a witch-hunt.

[ad_2]