Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg Gets Five-Month Prison Sentence

Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was sentenced on Tuesday to five months in jail for his role in a tax-fraud scheme.

He will serve his sentence at New York’s infamous Rikers Island beginning immediately. Sources report that he will not be kept with the general population, but will be placed in an infirmary unit.

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Weisselberg’s reduced sentence in part due to Weisselberg’s pleading guilty and agreeing to testify against the Trump Organization. The former CFO revealed that he had avoided paying taxes on nearly $200,000 worth of off-the-book compensation per year. The compensation included luxury cars, a pricy Manhattan apartment, furnishings and the payment of his grandchildren’s private school tuition.

The sentence also remained at just five months because Judge Juan Merchan promised a short duration before hearing evidence at the trial. After the trial, he said that he would have insisted on a “much greater” sentence if he had been aware of the extent of the crimes committed. As a part of the deal, Weisselberg has also paid the taxes of a little over $2 million he owed over the decade he committed tax fraud.

If Weisselberg had not taken the plea deal, he would have faced between five and 15 years in prison, but now, he may be able to spend just 100 days in jail if he shows good behavior. After finishing his sentence, he will be on probation for five years.

“Mr. Weisselberg came to court today ready to begin his sentence, and he is grateful that it has now begun,” Weisselberg attorney Nicholas Gravante said. “He deeply regrets the lapse in judgment that resulted in his conviction, and he regrets it most because of the pain it has caused his loving wife, his sons and wonderful grandchildren.”

Article by Rose Carter