Allen Weisselberg, Donald Trump’s former corporate finance chief, has pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in connection with testimony he gave during the former president’s civil fraud trial last fall.
The 76-year-old surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office early Monday following weeks of negotiations with prosecutors. He will be sentenced to five months in jail, according to The Associated Press.
“Allen Weisselberg looks forward to putting this situation behind him,” Seth L. Rosenberg, one of Weisselberg’s lawyers, said in an emailed statement to HuffPost.
Weisselberg, who was also sentenced last year to five months in prison after being found guilty of multiple tax fraud charges in 2022, had been suspected of lying about his former boss’ finances during a sworn deposition in May and while on the stand during Trump’s trial in October.
Weisselberg, under oath, had said that he was not involved in an evaluation of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse, which was listed for years as much larger in size on his annual financial statements than it actually was.
Shortly after Weisselberg’s testimony, Forbes published an article citing past emails and notes between the outlet and him that contradicted his claims. Forbes reported that he was not only involved in an evaluation of the penthouse, but he tried to inflate the property’s value over several years.
New York state Judge Arthur Engoron later questioned the veracity of Weisselberg’s testimony prior to delivering his judgment in Trump’s trial last month.
In an email to the defense and prosecution on Feb. 5, Engoron said he was considering whether he should throw out all of Weisselberg’s testimony after The New York Times first reported about Weisselberg negotiating with prosecutors on a perjury plea.
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