1 of 2 | Former National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre enters a New York Supreme Court room for jury selection of his civil trial on January 8. On Friday, a jury found LaPierre and other NRA executives liable in New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil corruption lawsuit. File Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI |
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Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Former National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre and the NRA were found liable on Friday in a New York court for diverting millions of the organizations' dollars.
Jurors began deliberations Feb. 16 in the civil corruption trial against LaPierre -- who resigned from his NRA position in Janaury -- and other NRA executives and determined they had abused their NRA positions by using its charitable funds for lavish items such as trips, no-show contracts and a plethora of other corrupt actions.
Jurors determined that LaPierre, 74, had caused $5.4 million in monetary damages to the NRA even though he has already paid back $1 million in money he was deemed guilty for taking.
The other defendants in the trial besides LaPierre are the NRA itself, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer, and former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Wilson "Woody Phillips. Frazer and Phillips were found guilty of violating their fiduciary duties and for failing to take action against LaPierre.
The six person jury ruled mostly in favor of New York's Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit forward in 2020 and alleged that the defendants had engaged in overt corruption.
James' lawsuit contended the defendants should have to pay back to the NRA the millions of dollars used enrich those in what Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell called "Wayne's World."
The jury in New York also determined that the NRA itself had improperly entered into deals or the benefit of insiders and top executes without proper approval. New York State Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen is expected to deliver a decision in July on monetary damages and other legal remedies.
The NRA said Friday's verdict confirmed "what the NRA contended all along -- that it was victimized by certain former vendors and 'insiders' who abused the trust placed in them by the association."
On Friday evening, James said on X that LaPierre had "blatantly abused his position and broke the law." The ruling meant, James said, that "LaPierre and the NRA are finally being held accountable for this rampant corruption and self-dealing."
The state's attorney general added that "everyone, even the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, must play by the same rules."
Everytown For Gun Safety said Friday's verdict was the "culmination of over a decade of the gun safety movement putting pressure on the NRA."
"While the NRA self-destructs, one thing is clear: The gun lobby has never been weaker and the gun safety movement has never been stronger," they added on social media.
