A long-time senior executive at Donald Trump’s family business has pleaded guilty to conspiring with the company in a 15-year tax fraud.
Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer at the Trump Organization, entered his plea in a New York state court in Manhattan.
The 75-year-old may now be required to testify against the company, which is also a defendant, at a criminal trial scheduled for October.
Weisselberg has worked for Trump for about a half-century.
He gave up the chief financial officer job after he and the Trump Organization were charged, but remains on the former president’s payroll as a senior adviser.
Weisselberg is not expected to cooperate with Manhattan prosecutors in their larger probe into Mr Trump himself, a person familiar with the matter said.
Mr Trump has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing.
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Despite Weisselberg’s refusal to cooperate, his plea will likely strengthen prosecutors’ case against Mr Trump’s company, which has pleaded not guilty.
The defendants were indicted in July 2021 on charges of scheming to defraud, tax fraud and falsifying business records, where some executives were paid “off-the-books”.
Prosecutors said Weisselberg concealed and avoided taxes on $1.76m (£1.47m) of income including rent for a Manhattan apartment, lease payments for two Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and tuition for family members.
The tuition checks were signed by Mr Trump.
Weisselberg will likely be sentenced to five months in jail and get five years of probation.
The jail sentence would begin after the Trump Organization’s trial concludes.
Weisselberg could be freed after about 100 days, another person familiar with the matter said.
The jail term would be far shorter than the many years in state prison he could have faced if, rather than plead guilty, he were convicted after a trial.
The charges he faced include many of the charges the Trump Organization faces, as well as other charges including grand larceny – which refers to the theft of high-value personal property.
The Trump Organization manages golf clubs, hotels and other real estate around the world.
It could face fines and other penalties if convicted at trial.
A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization also declined to comment.
