US: Former Trump Org. CFO, Sentenced to 5 Months in Jail

By Staff, Agencies

Former US President Donald Trump’s long-time chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced by a New York judge to five months in jail for his role in a decade-long tax fraud scheme after testifying as the state’s witness against the Trump Organization.

Following the court hearing, Weisselberg, 75, is expected to report to Rikers Island, the notorious New York City jail, to begin serving his sentence immediately. He will be placed in an infirmary unit and not be part of the general population.

He pleaded guilty last August to 15 felonies in a deal with prosecutors. As part of the deal, he was required to testify truthfully at the trial of the Trump Organization, pay $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties, and waive any right to appeal.

Weisselberg admitted he should have paid taxes on off-the-books compensation, totaling roughly $200,000 in one year, which included a luxury Manhattan apartment overlooking the Hudson River, two Mercedes Benz car leases, parking, utilities, furniture and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday said had he not already promised a five-month sentence to Weisselberg, he would have issued a stiffer sentence “much greater” than five months after listening to evidence at trial.

Without a deal, Weisselberg faced a sentence as long as five to 15 years in prison. With credit given for good behavior, one-third of Weisselberg’s sentence could be knocked off, meaning he could end up serving about 100 days behind bars.

Merchan found Weisselberg’s fabrication of a fraudulent $6,000 payroll check cut to his wife so she could become eligible for Social Security benefits to be the most “offensive” of the crimes the judge said were driven by the Trump Org. executive’s greed.

Merchan said he felt he had to share this view in response to Weisselberg’s lawyer who requested an even lesser sentence to his client given his age and other factors.