Allen Weisselberg, the tax-dodging Trump Organization chief financial officer who refused to flip on his boss and chose jail instead, was released from New York City’s Rikers Island jail on Wednesday.
The 75-year-old, whose family members feared he would have a difficult time in the violence-ridden and filthy jail complex, spent his entire stay there at a relatively docile jail subdivision reserved for the sick and elderly, called West Facility.
The accountant had been former President Donald Trump’s trusted money man for decades, cutting real estate deals and managing cash flow—for a company that was convicted of tax fraud at trial and is now under investigation for maintaining fake business records, inflating property values, and defrauding banks and insurance companies.
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After a Manhattan jury convicted two Trump Organization affiliates—the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation—they were fined $1.6 million for cheating on taxes in January. Weisselberg took a plea deal and testified at that trial, scoring himself a lower jail sentence for taking part in the scheme.
He served only two-thirds of his five month sentence, released early on good behavior after 99 days behind bars. That special treatment is standard in New York State.
“Anyone who truly knows Allen feels sorry that he had to go through this. I hope he can now retire in peace, spend time with his wonderful family, and leave the circus in the rear view mirror. It was my honor and privilege to have represented him. He’s a true gentleman,” said Nicholas Gravante, a top New York lawyer who defended him in court.
City jail records that showed he was still imprisoned on Tuesday were updated on Wednesday to show that he had been released by 8:45 a.m. Where and when he was released remains unclear. Earlier this week, the city’s Corrections Department initially entertained questions about standard release procedures but would not respond when told The Daily Beast was interested in monitoring Weisselberg’s exit.
During his time in jail, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office continued to pressure Weisselberg to turn on his former boss—dangling the possibility of insurance fraud charges to get him to talk about his role in Trump’s sex hush money payment to a porn star, according to three people familiar with those conversations.
But in March, The Daily Beast revealed that the Trump Organization promptly ran interference on that by swapping out his trial lawyer, Gravante, and replacing him with one that seemed less open to having friendly conversations with prosecutors: Seth L. Rosenberg. The DA later had a Manhattan grand jury indict Trump anyway.
In what several people have noted had mob-like undertones, Trump repeatedly spoke out in support of his loyal accountant during his time in jail.
In March, Trump claimed on his network Truth Social that the Manhattan DA was “harassing and tormenting my 75 year old employee who they have thrown in jail, trying to force him to say something bad (lie!) about me.”
Weisselberg no longer has an official job at the Trump Organization but is still expected to get a handsome payout for remaining loyal to the company, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
