Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty Monday to perjury related to testimony he gave at former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York.
Weisselberg, 76, pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury, court records show. He surrendered to the Manhattan prosecutor’s office on Monday and will be sentenced to five months in jail, The Associated Press reported. He will not be required to testify at Trump’s upcoming criminal trial in New York, according to the news agency.
Weisselberg admitted to having lied under oath as authorities in New York investigated Trump for fraud, The New York Times reported. He mislead investigators about financial statements that overstated the size of Trump’s penthouse, according to Reuters.
“The harm caused by the crime of perjury tears at the very fabric of our justice system,” prosecutor Gary Fishman said Monday in court, the Times reported.
The charges are related to testimony Weisselberg gave during a 2020 deposition with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, CNN reported. In addition, Weisselberg admitted that the testimony he gave during last year’s civil fraud trial was false, although he did not plead guilty to any charges related to the testimony, according to the news network.
James filed suit in 2022, accusing Trump, his adult sons and his business of lying to lenders and insurers about the value of their properties for years in order to get more favorable terms.
Last month, a judge ordered Trump to pay $454 million in fines and interest after finding him liable in the case. The former president is appealing the ruling.
Previously, Weisselberg spent 100 days behind bars for failing to pay taxes on company perks, the AP reported. His most recent court appearance comes ahead of Trump’s criminal trial in New York, where he faces charges of falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments made to an adult film star in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
The former president is also facing charges in Georgia and Washington, D.C., related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He faces additional charges in Florida related to his handling of classified materials.
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