Trump Organization CFO pleads guilty in tax evasion case

Allen Weisselberg — once the CFO at former U. S. President Donald Trump’s family business — has pleaded guilty to all 15 of the charges he faced in a tax evasion case

A top executive at former U. S. President Donald Trump’s family business pleaded guilty Thursday to evading taxes in a deal that could potentially make him a star witness against the company at a fall trial.

Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to all 15 of the charges he faced in the case.

In a low, somewhat hoarse voice, he admitted taking in over $1.7 million worth of untaxed perks — including school tuition for his grandchildren, free rent for a Manhattan apartment and lease payments for a luxury car — and explicitly keeping some of the plums off the books.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to sentence Mr. Weisselberg to five months' incarceration at 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 Mr. Weisselberg will have to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest.

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 Mr. Weisselberg and other executives avoid income taxes by failing to accurately report their full compensation to the government. Trump himself is not charged in the case.

Mr. Weisselberg said nothing as he left court, offering no reply when a journalist asked him whether he had any message for Mr. Trump.

Mr. Weisselberg's lawyer Nicholas Gravante Jr. said his client pleaded guilty “to put an end to this case and the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family.”