Ex-Trump deputy Weisselberg pleads guilty to perjury over penthouse size
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg on Monday pleaded guilty to perjury charges for misleading New York state investigators about financial statements that overstated the size of Donald Trump's penthouse.
Judge Laurie Peterson at a hearing in Manhattan criminal court said she would sentence Weisselberg, 76, to five months in jail. That would mark the second stint behind bars for the former U.S. president's longtime loyal deputy, who was led into the courtroom in handcuffs after surrendering earlier Monday.
Weisselberg's plea comes ahead of Trump's criminal trial starting March 25 on charges brought by the Manhattan District Attorney of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election.
Trump, who faces three other criminal indictments related to efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and his handling of government documents, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
As part of his plea agreement, Weisselberg admitted to lying on the witness stand in a recent civil fraud trial against Trump and during two earlier depositions with the New York state attorney general's office about his role in Trump's financial statements.
In some of those statements, Trump claimed his Manhattan penthouse was more than 30,000 square feet, nearly three times the real size.
Weisselberg testified at the trial on Oct. 10 that he was not involved in an incorrect valuation of the penthouse — one of a series of misleading financial statements that New York state Attorney General Letitia James said amounted to a fraudulent effort to dupe lenders.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office, which brought Monday's charges against
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