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Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Trump Organization's former Chief Financial Officer is hashing out the details of an agreement that would see him plead guilty to tax evasion charges, the New York Times was the first to report on Wednesday. Under the reported deal, Allen Weisselberg would plead guilty and serve about 100 days in custody. He would also testify at trial, should a similar criminal case against the Trump Organization get that far.
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The Times was the first outlet to report the plea deal, while CNN first reported the long-time Trump ally would testify.
He had been set to go to trial Oct. 24, after a New York judge on Friday denied an effort to dismiss the charges. Weisselberg, 75, and the Trump Organization face multiple counts related to an alleged tax scheme, including fraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying records.
He will not sign a cooperation agreement and it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether or not to call him to the stand.
Court documents show Weisselberg had worked for the Trump family since 1973 and was facing a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Both he and the organization were indicted in July of 2021.
The charges are related to a grand jury investigation into the Trump Organization, the business empire belonging to former President Donald Trump. The criminal action is the first against the Trump Organization by a two-year joint investigation between Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
One of the counts was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.
"The purpose of the scheme was to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a manner that was "off the books": the beneficiaries of the scheme received substantial portions of their income through indirect and disguised means, with 'compensation that was unreported or misreported by the Trump Corporation or Trump Payroll Corp," reads the indictment against both Weisselberg and the Trump Organization.
