NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s convicted chief financial officer, was sentenced to five months in jail on Tuesday for scheming to dodge taxes at former President Donald Trump’s company.
Weisselberg, 75, appeared before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to learn his fate.
The judge declined a request from his lawyer to bring down the agreed-upon sentence.
Merchan called out Weisselberg for his greed “at a time when so many Americans work so hard in the hopes that they may one day be able to benefit from their contributions.”
The veteran sentry of the Trump Organization’s coffers has worked for the Trump family since his hiring by Donald’s father, Fred, in Brooklyn in the early 1970s to work as a bookkeeper. He described himself in a 2015 deposition as Trump’s “eyes and ears” from a financial standpoint.
In pleading guilty last August and in his testimony at the trial, Weisselberg admitted to receiving more than $1.7 million in off-the-books perks over 15 years while heading the Trump Organization finances, on top of his $450,000 salary and hefty bonuses.
Luxury expenses Weisselberg and the company didn’t notify the government about included rent-free apartments in Manhattan for him and his son Barry’s young family, Mercedes-Benz car leases for him and his wife, private school tuition for his grandchildren and furniture for his holiday home in Florida.
On top of agreeing to a stint at Rikers — which is expected to last no longer than 100 days with good behavior — Weisselberg was also required to pay nearly $2 million in restitution and fines, withdraw all defense motions filed on his behalf, and waive any appeals when he pleaded out.
The case stems from Manhattan prosecutors’ ongoing probe into Trump’s business dealings, which District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said could still result in charges against the former president.
The convicted Trump Organization entities, Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp., are expected to be sentenced on Friday. They face around $1 million in fines, representing a fraction of the legal bills for the half a dozen lawyers who defended the case.
———
