Former NRA executive pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to testify in New York AG trial
ABC News
The admission, hours after Wayne LaPierre's resignation, comes ahead of a trial scheduled to begin Monday.
Former National Rifle Association operations director Joshua Powell has settled civil claims of fraud and abuse brought by the New York Attorney General's office.
The admission comes hours after Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA, announced his resignation ahead of a trial scheduled to begin Monday. LaPierre cited health reasons, according to the NRA. The resignation will be effective Jan. 31.
Powell was employed by the NRA from 2016 through January 2020 and in that time "Powell breached his fiduciary duties and failed to administer the charitable assets entrusted to his care by using his powers as an officer and senior executive of the NRA to convert charitable assets for his own benefit and for the benefit of his family members," the settlement agreement said.
"Joshua Powell's admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre's resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Saturday.
The attorney general is suing the NRA, which is registered in New York as a non-profit charitable corporation, and its senior management for misappropriating millions of dollars to fund personal benefits, including private jets, family vacations and luxury goods.
