Allen Weisselberg, who formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Trump Organization, entered a guilty plea on Thursday to 15 counts of malfeasance and tax evasion. In his petition, he admitted to playing a role in a protracted scheme to avoid taxation on income totaling more than $1.7 million.
Breaking: Ex-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg just pleaded guilty to tax violations and admitted to helping run a years-long tax fraud scheme at Trump’s business.
Weisselberg admitted to all 15 felonies that prosecutors in the Manhattan DA’s office accused him of.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 18, 2022
Weisselberg, who is 75 years old, pleaded guilty in exchange for a bargain that was connected to his charge by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the enterprises associated with former President Donald Trump. Weisselberg is not asked to cooperate in a more extensive probe relating to Trump, and the deal itself will not involve Trump in any way.
Weisselberg was given a five-month jail sentence and five years of probation as part of the terms of the plea deal. With credit for time served and time off for good behavior, it is expected that he will spend approximately one hundred days in jail.
Weisselberg entered a guilty plea to the following criminal allegations that were presented to him in the indictment: conspiracy, plan to defraud, grand embezzlement, criminal tax fraud, fabricating company documents, and submitting a fraudulent instrument for filing.
Weisselberg responded to Judge Juan Merchan’s questions regarding the charges against him 15 times with “Yes, your honor.“
In addition, according to the prosecutors, Weisselberg will be responsible for paying the back taxes of $1,994,321. Weisselberg faces the possibility of receiving a sentence ranging from five to fifteen years in prison if he breaches the terms of the plea bargain by, for example, failing to provide truthful testimony or falling behind on the repayment of his taxes.
Over the course of many years, the Trump Organization provided Weisselberg with a number of tax-free corporate benefits. These benefits came in the form of large tuition and fees for his grandchildren to attend a prestigious private school in Manhattan. Weisselberg was also given a luxury car and an upmarket apartment in New York City.
On June 30 of the previous year, a grand jury in New York issued an indictment against both Weisselberg and the Trump Organization.
In the lengthy investigation that the Manhattan district attorney has been conducting into the business operations of the corporation, the organization itself has not entered a guilty plea. The erstwhile CFO is the only person who has been charged with a crime up to this point in the investigation, which can only point to the organization’s innocence or the possibility that the organization was similarly a victim of its previous CFO.
In addition, the former CFO has consented to testify against the Trump Organization in the next trial, which is set to begin on October 24 with the selection of the jury.
