Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty on Thursday to 15 tax crime felonies.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to all 15 crimes in exchange for a reduced sentence in a plea deal with prosecutors.
The plea deal also requires that Mr. Weisselberg to testify as a witness when the case goes to trial in October.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan sentenced Weisselberg to five months in Rikers Island jail.
AP reported:
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to sentence Weisselberg to five months in New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex, although he will be eligible for release much earlier if he behaves well behind bars. The judge said Weisselberg will have to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and complete five years of probation.
The plea bargain also requires Weisselberg to testify truthfully as a prosecution witness when the Trump Organization goes on trial in October on related charges. The company is accused of helping Weisselberg and other executives avoid income taxes by failing to report their full compensation accurately to the government. Trump himself is not charged in the case.
The Trump Organization last summer was hit with criminal charges by crooked Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s office.
The case was tied to tax-related conduct amid claims Trump Organization employees illegally ‘received tax-free perks such as apartments and car leases.’
These types of cases are almost never pursued, but the witch hunt of Trump and everyone connected to him never ends.
Last July the corrupt DA in Manhattan frog-marched the Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer, Allen Weisselberg into a New York court to be arraigned on bogus tax charges.
According to the indictment unsealed last summer, Weisselberg was accused of a “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud scheme for receiving $1.7 million in illegally ‘received tax-free perks such as apartments and car leases.’
The New York Times reported that Weisselberg is not expected to implicate President Trump in the October trial.
Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing.