Dive Brief:
- Allen Weisselberg — the former Trump Organization CFO who was sentenced in January to five months in jail and five years of probation after pleading guilty in August to multiple counts including criminal tax fraud related to a scheme to evade income taxes by hiding compensation — was released from New York’s Rikers Island prison Wednesday, according to New York City Department of Correction records.
- Weisselberg, a key witness in a trial that resulted in the conviction of two Trump Organization affiliates on multiple counts of tax fraud in December, was released early for good behavior, according to defense attorney Nicholas A. Gravante Jr., who previously represented the finance chief.
- The long-time Trump Organization executive, now in his mid 70s, served about two-thirds of his five month sentence, a shorter stint that was anticipated by Gravante who previously told CFO Dive that Weisselberg would likely only be in prison for 100 days.
Dive Insight:
Up until 2017, former President Donald Trump was president and owner of the Trump Organization, his sprawling real estate empire, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Weisselberg may face fresh legal pressure related to certain appraisals of his former employer’s real estate that were allegedly never carried out, as CFO Dive previously reported. Meanwhile, Seth L. Rosenberg, an attorney with the law firm of Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder, has recently replaced Nicholas A. Gravante Jr. as Weisselberg’s attorney.
The change in legal representation came as the Trump Organization grew concerned that Gravante, head of the Cadwalader firm’s commercial litigation practice, would prioritize Weisselberg’s interests over those of the former president, CFO Dive reported. Trump’s company has been paying Weisselberg’s attorneys fees, according to a Daily Beast report.
Gravante on Thursday confirmed that Weisselberg had been released from Rikers but declined to comment beyond a statement he shared with CFO Dive which characterized Weisellberg, who worked for the Trump Organization for decades, as “a true gentleman” and wished him well.
“Anyone who truly knows Allen feels sorry that he had to go through this. I hope he can now retire in peace, spend time with his wonderful family, and leave the circus in the rear view mirror. It was my honor and privilege to have represented him,” Gravante wrote in a statement shared Thursday with CFO Dive.
Rosenberg and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. After Weisselberg’s guilty plea CFO Dive reported that a Trump Organization spokesperson stated that Weisselberg had been a “long-time, trusted employee” who had been “persecuted” by law enforcement in a “politically motivated quest to get President Trump.”
In an August 18 release detailing Weisselberg’s guilty plea, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. stated that the 75-year-old engaged together with the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corp., in a 15-year scheme to evade payment of taxes due on $1.76 million in unreported income.
Weisselberg avoided paying taxes on $1.76 million in unreported income that the Trump Organization paid to him in the form of benefits, including for his rent on his Manhattan apartment, utilities and garage privileges, multiple Mercedez Benz cars and private school tuition for his grandchildren, according to the release.
As well as his truthful testimony in the Trump Organization’s criminal trial related to the scheme last year, Weisselberg was required to repay $1.99 million in taxes, penalties and interest as part of his plea agreement.
