Allen Weisselberg, former Trump Organization CFO, pleads guilty to perjury
Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty Monday to two felony counts of perjury related to testimony he gave in July in a civil case in which he was also a defendant.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Weisselberg admitted he gave false testimony during an investigative deposition regarding the size of former President Donald Trump's triplex apartment in New York, as reflected in his annual statements of financial condition.
The D.A. had initially charged Weisselberg with three additional counts of perjury. As part of the agreement, Weisselberg admitted to lying but did not plead guilty to those charges and won't be sentenced for those.
According to the D.A.'s office, one of those initial counts was related to false sworn testimony on May 12, 2023, in a discovery deposition conducted by the attorney general's office, and the other two counts stemmed from Weisselberg's October 10, 2023, testimony in Trump's civil fraud trial.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed Weisselberg had turned himself in on new charges. A source familiar with the situation told CBS News that Weisselberg was being processed.
Under the plea agreement, Weisselberg will be sentenced to five months in jail. The sentencing is expected to take place on April 10, 2024.
Weisselberg had been in talks with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg about a guilty plea, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News in February.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James had accused Trump and his associates, including Weisselberg, of inflating the value of the Trump Organization to receive favorable loans and other benefits. That civil case ended with a judge ordering the former president to pay $450 million, including interest, a figure that continues to grow every day that he hasn't paid. Trump is appealing that ruling.
Weisselberg was found liable for fraud and ordered to pay $1 million plus interest. During the fraud trial, he acknowledged receiving $2 million in severance after leaving the Trump Organization.
Bragg's office secured a previous guilty plea from Weisselberg in connection with a separate case, a 2022 criminal tax fraud case against the company, in which two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization were found guilty of 17 felony counts.
Under that plea deal, Weisselberg was required to testify at the Trump Organization trial in 2022. He was guaranteed a five-month sentence, and served about three months at Rikers Island jail complex.
The Trump Organization entities were fined $1.6 million in the 2022 case. Trump was not personally charged in that case and denied any knowledge of fraud.