Meanwhile, Trump firm attorney Susan Necheles tried to isolate the former president and urged jurors not to let their views of Trump cloud their judgment. “You should not view this case as a referendum on President Trump or his policies,” he said. “It started and ended with Allen Weisselberg. Allen Weisselberg did that.” Weiselberg pleaded guilty in August to all 15 charges he faced, including tax fraud and theft. Now he will star in the expected month-long trial, where prosecutors must convince a jury that the Trump Organization. The entities — Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation — share responsibility for concealing $1.76 million in compensation. Necheles claimed Weisselberg only implicated the company to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. If he fulfills his agreement and testifies truthfully, he is expected to be sentenced to five months at Rikers Island. If he violates the agreement, he could face up to 15 years in prison. “The prosecutors made him parade in front of the cameras in handcuffs. “Mr Weiselberg realized he was facing not just public humiliation, but a possible prison sentence that could be years,” he said. “I will ask you to consider the extreme pressure he is under.” Prosecutors said Weiselberg and the corporate defendants also avoided taxes by reporting that some of his bonuses were paid to an independent contractor rather than an employee. They also failed to disclose that he lived in New York, allowing him to avoid paying local income taxes. Weiselberg reported directly to Trump for 35 years, Hofiger said. And Trump trusted him so much that he made Weiselberg a trustee when he became president and put his personal assets into a trust. The fraudulent tax practices ended after Trump became president, prompting the company to clean up its act out of concern about increased scrutiny, the assistant DA said. If convicted, the company could be fined $1.6 million. The companies are charged with nine felony counts, including criminal tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. The case is one of a slew of legal threats facing the former president. Also in New York, Attorney General Tice James filed a lawsuit against Trump, his children and his company last month, accusing them of large-scale fraudulent financial practices. That lawsuit charges that Trump falsely inflated his assets for more than a decade and seeks to bar him and members of his family from engaging in real estate transactions or serving as employees of any business in New York. A separate Justice Department investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents led to an FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where reams of documents were seized. A broader criminal investigation by the Manhattan DA into Trump’s business practices also remains open, though it was halted earlier this year when Bragg declined to press charges against Trump personally. Bragg was in the courtroom for Monday’s opening argument. Prosecutors had hoped to compel Weiselberg to cooperate with that broader investigation, but he did not agree to do so as part of his plea deal.
