Devendra Kumar
Allen Weisselberg, a 76-year-old former executive in Donald Trump’s real estate empire, has been sentenced to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in the civil fraud lawsuit brought against Trump by New York’s attorney general. Weisselberg’s perjury prosecution was sparked by his testimony in the civil fraud case, where he lied under oath on three occasions. He agreed to plead guilty only to charges related to his 2020 deposition evidence, in order to avoid violating his tax case probation.
The size of Trump’s penthouse was a key issue in the civil fraud case, with Weisselberg providing the figure in his testimony. Weisselberg’s plea agreement does not require him to testify at Trump’s hush money criminal trial, which is scheduled to start with jury selection on Monday. Weisselberg’s age and willingness to admit wrongdoing played a role in the prosecution’s decision to agree to a five-month sentence. In New York, perjury is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors promised not to prosecute Weisselberg for other crimes he might have committed in connection with his Trump Organisation employment. Weisselberg is now trading life as a Florida retiree for a stay at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex. Weisselberg’s lawyers had argued that he was unfairly targeted and that his perjury was minor and committed under duress. However, the prosecution maintained that Weisselberg’s lies were material and had a significant impact on the outcome of the civil fraud case.
Trump’s lawyers took issue with Weisselberg’s perjury prosecution, accusing the Manhattan district attorney’s office of deploying “unethical, strong-armed tactics against an innocent man in his late 70s” while turning “a blind eye” to perjury allegations against Michael Cohen, the former Trump lawyer who is now a key prosecution witness in the hush money case. Cohen has pleaded guilty to several crimes and has received more lenient treatment than Weisselberg. This move has sparked controversy, with some arguing that Weisselberg was unfairly targeted while Cohen has been given a pass.