The former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of perjury last month stemming from his testimony during former President Donald Trump‘s civil fraud trial.
Weisselberg’s perjury stems from the New York civil fraud case against Trump’s family business, which resulted in a judge’s decision in February that Trump, his adult sons, business associates, and the Trump Organization must pay more than $350 million in damages, which became $464 million when prejudgment interest was included.
The former CFO was accused by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of committing perjury in a deposition and during testimony in Trump’s trial, including allegedly lying when he said in July 2020 that he learned Trump’s Manhattan apartment had been overvalued from a media report. In reality, Weisselberg knew about it beforehand, according to prosecutors’ allegations.
The prosecution and the defense agreed to a five month sentence in exchange for Weisselberg’s guilty plea to perjury in the first degree, a class D felony that can result in a prison term of up to seven years, in addition to substantial fines.
Presiding Judge Laurie Peterson asked Weisselberg if he had any words to say during the sentencing hearing.
“No, your honor,” Weisselberg said.
Last January, the former CFO was sentenced to five months behind bars for his separate participation in a tax fraud scheme at the former president’s real estate company for 15 years.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told the Washington Examiner that “Weisselberg received the benefit of a reduced sentence in both cases because he pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions,” including an agreement to pay back taxes in the separate case against him last year.
Weisselberg’s attorney Seth Rosenberg declined to answer press questions outside of the sentencing hearing, and the former CFO was immediately taken into custody afterward.
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The sentencing of Weisselberg comes just days before Trump is expected to be present for the start of a criminal trial in Manhattan over a 34-count indictment brought by Bragg. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has called the indictment against him a “witch hunt” brought by Democrats and allies of President Joe Biden.
The case built by Bragg, an elected Democrat, stems from a hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. The payment was made by Trump’s fixer and ex-attorney Michael Cohen to silence Daniels as she was seeking to come forward about an alleged affair with Trump years earlier, which the former president denies.
