Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg Released from Jail After 100 Days

Knowledge Nuggets:

• Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, has been released from Rikers Island after spending 100 days in jail for tax fraud and other crimes.
• Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August 2022 and agreed to testify against the Trump Organization as part of a deal with prosecutors.
• The Trump Organization was found guilty of 17 counts related to tax fraud and other charges on Dec. 6, 2022, and blamed Weisselberg for his actions.

After serving more than two-thirds of his five-month sentence, former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has been released from Rikers Island. Weisselberg had been sentenced to jail time for tax fraud and other crimes, after he appeared as a key witness for prosecutors in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial. The trial resulted in the conviction of two Trump Organization companies, called the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, on Dec. 6, 2022.

Weisselberg spent nearly half a century working for the Trump Organization, and was for decades former President Donald Trump’s right-hand man at the company, overseeing the company’s finances before and after Trump left to serve in the White House. He and the two Trump Organization companies were indicted in July 2021, accused of using various methods to reduce payroll liability from executive salaries through untaxed bonuses and luxury perks worth millions.

Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August 2022 and agreed to testify against the company as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to five months in jail, a term that began on Jan. 10, 2023. His former attorney Nicholas Gravante had previously said that they believed Weisselberg would serve about 100 days, with early release for good behavior.

Following Weisselberg’s release, his current lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also declined to comment, while a spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

In the wake of the Dec. 6 conviction, the Trump Organization blamed Weisselberg for his actions in a statement sent to media. However, Weisselberg testified about a series of schemes used by Trump Organization executives to avoid taxes and payroll liability, on large bonuses and luxury benefits, over the course of several days in November.

source: cbs