Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has been sentenced to five months in jail for lying under oath about his role in Donald Trump’s financial statements, according to The Associated Press.
Last month, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury after reaching a deal with prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“Weisselberg looks forward to putting this situation behind him,” Seth L. Rosenberg, one of his lawyers, said at the time.
Weisselberg had falsely claimed during sworn depositions in July 2020 and May 2023 and his testimony in Trump’s civil fraud trial in October that he had no involvement in inflating the value of the former president’s Manhattan penthouse — one of the properties that is at the center of the case against Trump.
“I never even thought about the apartment. It was de minimis, in my mind,” Weisselberg said during the October trial. “It was not something that was that important to me when looking at a $6 billion, $5 billion net worth.”
But Forbes revealed both notes and past communications between him and the outlet in which Weisselberg tried to prop up the value of the apartment as early as 2012.
“A review of old emails and notes, some of which the attorney general’s office does not possess, show that Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment — and played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was,” the report states.
Still, even though Weisselberg admitted to lying in all three depositions, he only pleaded guilty to charges with regards to his July 2020 testimony before Attorney General Letitia James’ office, who brought Trump’s civil fraud case, sparing him a potentially even longer sentence.
Separately, Weisselberg served about 100 days in Rikers Island after he was sentenced to five months in prison in January 2023 for avoiding taxes on about $1.7 million he received in off-the-books job perks. The judge had said he would be eligible for release after a little more than three months if he exhibited good behavior. He had previously pleaded guilty to 15 counts he was charged with after he came to an agreement with prosecutors.
Weisselberg has worked for Trump’s family since 1973 when he was employed as an accountant for the former president’s father, Fred Trump, before going on to work with Donald Trump.
Despite his legal challenges, he has continued to stand by the former president and has failed to directly implicate him.
After leaving the Trump Organization, he came to an agreement to receive a $2 million in a severance package as long as he didn’t cooperate with any probes unless he was legally compelled to. The company is also footing his legal bills.
Weisselberg is not expected to be a witness in Trump’s hush money case set to begin later this month. The former president was indicted for falsifying business records in regards to hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the leadup to the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied wrongdoing.