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- Allen Weisselberg, Donald Trump's longtime company CFO and family bookkeeper, is now a felon.
- As part of a plea deal set in Manhattan Thursday, Weisselberg admitted he and the Trump Organization schemed to avoid payroll taxes.
- Weisselberg must serve five months jail, pay back $2 million, and testify when Trump's company goes on trial in October.
In a plea deal before a Manhattan judge Thursday, Donald Trump's longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, admitted to orchestrating a 15-year payroll tax-dodge scheme at the Trump Organization.
The plea makes Weisselberg — a loyal, 30-year bookkeeper for Trump and his family — a felon, guilty of 15 felony counts including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, and criminal tax fraud.
Under the plea's conditions, Weisselberg must serve five months jail and then five years probation. He must pay back $1,994,321 in back taxes, interest, and penalties.
Significantly, he must also testify when Trump's multi-billion-dollar real estate and golf resort business goes on trial in October.
But while he has now promised to implicate the company in front of a Manhattan jury — telling them that the company for years failed to withold taxes on executive income — his testimony is unlikely to implicate Trump himself.
Weisselberg has steadfastly refused to cooperate against Trump, and his admission of guilt on Thursday did not accuse Trump of any illegal behavior.
Weisselberg spoke softly as he took his plea, seated at the defense table before New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and a courtroom filled with press, attorneys and prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
"Yes, your honor," he said repeatedly, when asked if he understood the plea and was willingly pleading guilty and giving up his right to an appeal.
He pleaded guilty to the entire indictment lodged against him last summer.
"You will serve a sentence of five months of jail and that period of incarceration will be followed by five years of probation. Do you understand?" the judge asked.
"Yes, your honor."
The promised sentence would be revoked if Weisselberg fails to pay the nearly $2 million in back-taxes and penalties.
It would also be revoked if Weisselberg fails to testify truthfully against the Trump Organization when its lawyers defend it against charges of the same scheme; an October 24 trial date was set.
If the sentence is revoked, the judge would bee at liberty to impose any legal sentence, including the maximum of 5 to 15 years prison for the top charge of second degree grand larceny.
