In court Thursday, Weisselberg said, “Yes, your honor” when asked if he was pleading guilty of his own choice.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies and admitted failing to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including luxury perks such as rent and utilities for a Manhattan apartment, rents for a couple of Mercedes-Benz cars and private school tuition for their grandchildren.
He admitted to hiding these benefits from his accountant by failing to declare his income and knowingly omitting the income from his personal tax returns.
Weisselberg answered a series of specific questions about the judge’s outline in a hushed, barely audible tone, saying “Yes, your honor” repeatedly.
As part of the settlement, he will pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and waive any right to appeal.
Judge Juan Merchan said Weisselberg would be sentenced after the Trump Organization trial. He said the deal was for five months in jail followed by five years of probation. The judge warned Weisselberg if he does not comply with all the terms of the plea agreement: “I would be free to impose any statutory penalty which in his case includes 5 to 15 years in prison.”
The plea puts him at odds with the Trump Organization, where he worked for 40 years, and his testimony could damage the company if he goes to trial on related tax charges, as planned in October.
Weisselberg has been fiercely loyal to the Trump family, having worked for them since 1973. However, even testifying against the company, Weisselberg will not implicate any members of the Trump family, who were not accused of any crime. If the Trump Organization is convicted, it could be required to pay taxes and fines, but no individual will go to jail.
“Today Allen Weisselberg admitted in court that he used his position at the Trump Organization to defraud taxpayers and enrich himself,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “This plea agreement 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. Additionally, thanks to the incredibly hard work and dedication of the team prosecuting this case, Weisselberg will spend time behind bars. We look forward to proving our case in court against the Trump Organization,” Bragg said.
Weisselberg will likely serve time at Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious prison. With the recognition of good behavior, a third of the sentence could be overturned, meaning Weisselberg could end up serving about 100 days behind bars. None of the charges Weisselberg faces carry mandatory prison terms, but the most serious carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said during the hearing that if Weisselberg defaults on all obligations, he will recommend a state prison sentence.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced the charges last summer when it pressed Weisselberg to cooperate against Trump in the wide-ranging investigation into whether the Trump Organization and its top executives provided misleading financial statements to obtain loans, insurance and tax benefits. No charges have been filed in that investigation, which prosecutors say is ongoing.
Weisselberg is not cooperating with New York prosecutors in this criminal investigation.
The guilty plea comes two months before Weisselberg was set to stand trial and a week after a New York state judge denied his motion to dismiss the indictment.
Representatives of the Trump Organization have denied any wrongdoing. Trump has described the investigations as politically motivated. No other executives were charged in the tax case, and Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump were not charged with any wrongdoing.
The Trump Organization was charged with 10 counts and Weisselberg with 15 felonies in connection with an alleged scheme dating back to 2005 “to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a manner that was “out of books”.
Few people, including Weisselberg, could explain how decisions were made at the Trump Organization, and their testimony will provide information at trial.
Weisselberg acknowledged Thursday that the scheme was carried out with Jeffrey McConney, the longtime controller of the Trump Organization.
McConney, who reported to Weisselberg, was granted immunity for his testimony before the grand jury, people familiar with the matter previously told CNN. He was named as an uncharged co-conspirator in the indictment.
Weisselberg’s guilty plea comes during a dramatic legal period for Trump, who last week in a deposition at the New York attorney general’s civil inquiry asserted his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer hundreds of questions about the Trump Organization’s financial statements. It arrived in two days. after the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida as part of a criminal investigation into the handling of presidential records, including classified documents.
This story has been updated with additional news.