By MICHAEL R. SISAK
NEW YORK (AP) — A top executive at former President Donald Trump’s family business pleaded guilty Thursday to tax evasion for a free apartment and other perks, striking a deal with prosecutors that could make him a witness star against the company in a lawsuit this fall. .
Allen Weisselberg, a senior adviser to the Trump Organization and previously the company’s longtime chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to all 15 charges he faced in the case.
In a low, somewhat husky voice, Weisselberg admitted to taking in over $1.7 million in tax-free extras — including school tuition for his grandchildren, free rent on a Manhattan apartment and lease payments on a luxury car — and clearly kept some of the plums off the books.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to sentence the 75-year-old executive to five months at New York’s Rikers Island prison complex, although he will be eligible for release after just over three months if he behaves behind bars. The judge said Weisselberg will have to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest and complete five years of probation.
The plea agreement also requires Weisselberg to actually testify as a prosecution witness when the Trump Organization goes on trial in October on similar charges. The company is accused of helping Weisselberg and other executives avoid income taxes by not accurately reporting their compensation to the government. Trump himself is not charged in this case.
Weisselberg will remain free on bail pending formal sentencing following the company’s trial. He said nothing as he left court, not responding when a reporter asked if he had a message for Trump. If Weisselberg fails to comply with the terms of the guilty plea, prosecutors said they would seek a “significant sentence of state imprisonment,” and Merchan warned he could face the maximum sentence for the top charge — grand theft — of 15 years.
Weisselberg’s attorney, Nicholas Gravante Jr. said his client pleaded guilty “to end this case and the years of legal and personal nightmares it has caused him and his family.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that Weisselberg’s plea “directly implicates the Trump Organization in a wide range of criminal activities and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony in the upcoming trial against the corporation.”
“We look forward to proving our case in court against the Trump Organization,” he added.
Testimony from Weisselberg could weaken the company’s defense. If convicted, the company could face fines up to twice the amount of unpaid taxes or be placed on probation and forced to change its business practices.
The company praised Weisselberg on Thursday as a trusted and respected employee who it said had been “persecuted and threatened by law enforcement, particularly the Manhattan district attorney, in their endless, politically motivated effort to get President Trump”.
In a statement, the company accused prosecutors of trying to pressure Weisselberg to disavow Trump and of trying to build a criminal case out of well-known executive perks, such as a company car.
The company, which was not involved in Weisselberg’s guilty plea on Thursday, said it has done nothing wrong, will not plead guilty and looks forward to “having our day in court.”
Weisselberg, seen as one of Trump’s most loyal business associates, is the only person to face criminal charges so far in the Manhattan district attorney’s long-running investigation of the company. Weisselberg began working for the Trump Organization in 1973, when it was run by Trump’s father, Fred. After his arrest in July 2021, the company changed his title from CFO to senior advisor. The CFO position remains vacant.
Weisselberg agreed to plead guilty days after a court hearing where Merchan denied his request to dismiss the charges. The judge rejected the defense’s argument that the district attorney’s office was punishing Weisselberg because he would not provide information that would damage Trump.
The district attorney is also investigating whether Trump or his company lied to banks or the government about the value of its properties to get loans or lower tax bills.
Then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who started the investigation, directed his deputies last year to present evidence to a grand jury and seek an indictment against Trump, according to former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who first led the investigation. But after Vance left office in January, his successor, Bragg, allowed the grand jury to disband without charges. Both prosecutors are Democrats. Bragg said the investigation is ongoing.
Prosecutors alleged the company provided untaxed benefits to top executives, including Weisselberg, for 15 years. Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal, state and city governments of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.
Trump, a Republican, has denounced the New York probe as a “political witch hunt” and said his company’s actions were standard practice in the real estate business and in no way a crime.
Last week, Trump sat down for a deposition in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ parallel civil investigation into allegations that Trump’s company misled lenders and tax authorities about asset values. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 times.
James, whose investigation uncovered the evidence that led to Weisselberg’s charges, said in a statement: “Let this guilty plea send a message loud and clear: We will crack down on anyone who steals from the public for personal gain, for no one is above the law.”
___
Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.
__
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak. Submit confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips/.
