Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday for his role in the company’s sweeping 15-year tax fraud scheme.
Weisselberg, 75, is expected to be sentenced to five months behind bars, according to his guilty plea, when he appears before Acting Judge Juan Merchan in New York criminal court. Factoring in the typical amount of time off for good behavior, Weisselberg is likely to do about 100 days.
He also has to pay about $2 million in taxes and fines and will receive five years of probation.
As part of his deal with prosecutors, Weisselberg could have faced more time behind bars if he did not testify truthfully at the trial, which ended with the Trump Organization convicted on all counts.
There are no public court documents to suggest Weisselberg’s testimony was not truthful, and prosecutors have not asked the judge to review the agreed jail sentence.
«Her only obligation in connection with the trial was to testify truthfully, and she clearly did so,» Weisselberg’s attorney, Nicholas Gravante Jr., said after the conviction.
Weisselberg was the star witness for the prosecution in the case against former President Donald Trump’s company, describing how top executives and the company evaded paying the taxes they owed. Trump himself was not charged with any crime.
The largest personal beneficiary of the scheme, prosecutors said, was Weisselberg. He collected $1.76 million in «indirect employee compensation» through the scam, including a free apartment, expensive cars, private school tuition for his grandchildren and new furniture. Other executives received similar benefits and were paid bonuses as independent contractors, saving the company money in payroll taxes.
Weisselberg said on the witness stand that Trump knew nothing of the plan.
Lawyers for the two Trump Organization subsidiaries charged in the case argued during the trial that Weisselberg was the only bad actor and that the companies should not be held liable. A jury disagreed.
The panel convicted the companies on all 17 counts last month, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. The companies are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday and face fines of up to $1.6 million.
Had Weisselberg been convicted at trial, he could have faced up to 15 years in prison.
At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, the judge will decide whether Weisselberg should go to jail that day or at a later date.
