Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, was sentenced to five months in jail on Tuesday for his involvement in a tax fraud scheme at the real estate company.
Tuesday’s sentence comes after Weisselberg entered a plea deal and admitted that he, as well as several other top-level employees, had received bonuses and other financial perks while intentionally concealing the benefits from tax authorities to avoid paying taxes.
As part of that plea deal, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges. He will serve five months at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York while paying back about $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest.
The 75-year-old money manager could be eligible for release after three months of detention if he exemplifies good behavior, the judge said. Once released, he will be ordered to complete five years of probation.
The sentence also wraps up the Democratic Manhattan district attorney’s year-long investigation of the former president’s company and its business practices. Donald Trump has described the probe, which comes as he is seeking a third White House bid, as a politically motivated witch hunt and attempt to damage his political future.
“The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before!” Trump said last year.
Weisselberg’s Plea Deal
Weisselberg, who was arrested in July 2022 for evading taxes on $1.76 million in off-the-books income, initially pleaded not guilty, but agreed to a guilty plea in August of that year.“Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him,” his lawyer said at the time.
Weisselberg cooperated with prosecutors and testified against the Trump Organization during the trial, saying that Trump himself signed the Christmas bonus checks and personally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for Weisselberg’s grandchildren. He also alleged Trump’s two sons, who took over the company’s operations in 2017 after Trump was elected to the White House, gave him a raise while knowing about the tax evasion scheme.
“The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the 12-person jury in a New York state court in early December.
The jury found the Trump Organization guilty on multiple felony offenses, including tax fraud, falsifying business records, and conspiracy.
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