Former CFO Allen Weisselberg leaves the courtroom for a lunch recess during a trial at the New York Supreme Court on November 17, 2022 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg is set to be sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to multiple tax crimes as part of an investigation of former President Donald Trump‘s business empire.
Weisselberg, 75, is expected to be sentenced to five months in jail, and could end up serving less than that when factoring in time off for good behavior. He is expected to begin serving his time at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail following his 2:15 p.m. ET sentencing hearing before state Judge Juan Merchan.
The former CFO is also expected to be sentenced to pay nearly $2 million in taxes and penalties and serve five years of probation, NBC News and other outlets reported.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty on 15 counts last August, more than a year after he and several of Trump’s business entities were charged in what prosecutors called a “systematic” scheme to defraud state and federal tax authorities spanning more than 15 years. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office accused Weisselberg of receiving more than $1.7 million in secret compensation as part of that tax-avoidance scheme.
He 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,” his attorney, Nicholas Gravante, said at the time.Â
“Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him,” Gravante said.
Two Trump Organization subsidiaries were convicted last month of crimes including tax fraud and falsifying business records after a trial featuring testimony by Weisselberg, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of his plea deal.
Weisselberg had worked for Trump’s family since 1973. He reportedly testified in November that he is still being paid by the Trump Organization, and that the company is paying his lawyers.
It is also paying a prison consultant to help prepare Weisselberg for jail, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Trump himself was not charged in the case, and has decried the guilty verdict against his company as “a continuation of the Greatest Political Witch Hunt in the History of our Country.”
That verdict came down just weeks after Trump announced his candidacy for president in 2024.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.