1 year ago
NEW YORK — Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in jail and five years of probation in Manhattan state court Tuesday after pleading guilty to tax fraud.
The judge said Weisselberg, once chief financial officer for the real estate firm founded by former President Donald Trump, could have faced more time in jail had he not taken a plea deal.
"I believe that a stiffer sentence would be appropriate, having heard the evidence," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said Tuesday.
Weisselberg's lawyer had asked the judge for a reduced sentence citing his client's age and publicity around the trial.
The 75-year-old, who sat in court wearing a mask and a dark green North Face fleece, struck a deal in August with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The DA agreed to recommend a lower sentence in exchange for Weisselberg’s testimony in a separate trial against the Trump Org.
And testify he did.
Over three days on the stand in November, the former chief financial officer detailed some of the accounting sleights of hand that allowed the Trump Org. to avoid taxes by paying its employees to lower salaries and instead compensating them with luxury cars, free lodging and tuition for family members.
At one point, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass invoked Trump himself, who ran the firm at the time.
“Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud,” he said during closing arguments.
Last month, a jury found the Trump Org. guilty on all 17 counts in the tax fraud case and could face up to $1.6 million in fines.
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