Allen Weisselberg: Ex-Trump financial chief sentenced on perjury charges

A judge in New York has sentenced the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization to five months in prison on two counts of perjury.

Allen Weisselberg, 76, pleaded guilty to the charges last month, admitting he had lied under oath three times during the company's recent civil fraud trial.

Unflinching in his loyalty to the Trump family, the Florida retiree now faces his second stint behind bars.

He served 100 days last year on tax fraud charges involving the company.

On Wednesday morning, he spoke only once - to tell Justice Laurie Peterson he had nothing to say - before she imposed his sentence and he was led out of court in handcuffs.

The two felony counts against him relate to false sworn testimony the executive gave in two separate deposition, as well as in trial testimony, regarding the size of former President Donald Trump's triplex apartment in New York.

Attorneys prosecuting the case argued the company had - with Mr Weisselberg's explicit knowledge - overvalued the penthouse in financial statements at roughly three times its actual size.

Under oath, Mr Weisselberg claimed he had learned about the false valuation from a Forbes report, but prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney's office said he has since admitted he knew about it long before then.

The civil case ended with the former president ordered to pay more than $450m, including interest, and Mr Weisselberg ordered to pay $1m.

Both men have appealed the ruling, and Mr Trump has since posted a $175m bond in response to the judgment.

Mr Weisselberg, who began working for the Trumps in the early 1970s, retired in 2021 after being hit with the earlier tax charges. The Trump Organization provided him a $2m (£1.6m) severance package and continues to pay his legal bills.

He pleaded guilty in 2022 to helping facilitate a 15-year scheme by which he and other company executives evaded taxes on company perks, such as a rent-free luxury apartment in Manhattan, tuition for his grand children and two Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Although his plea agreement resulted in a five-month sentence at New York's notorious Rikers Island complex, he was released on good behaviour after serving 100 days.

As he now returns to Rikers, he will again be eligible for release in 100 days.

Prosecutors have agreed not to call Mr Weisselberg as a witness in Mr Trump's criminal trial beginning Monday over hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 election. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.

But Mr Weisselberg's alleged role in helping falsify company records to cover up those payments is expected to nevertheless factor into the trial.