Former National Rifle Association (NRA) head Wayne LaPierre was ordered to pay more than $4 million for mismanaging charitable funds to the organization he led for over three decades.
The Manhattan jury found that LaPierre, along with other leaders of the prominent gun rights group, diverted millions of dollars for lavish personal trips and other questionable expenses, according to the Associated Press.
The jury found that LaPierre, who stepped down from NRA in early January, has to pay $4.3 million in damages. It found he had caused $5.4 million in damages to the organization, but had already repaired over $1 million.
The trial came after New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, brought a lawsuit against the gun rights advocacy group in 2020. The verdict is the latest hit to the organization, which has struggled with shrinking membership and financial woes.
Jurors also found that the non-profit misrepresented information in its tax filing and broke New York state law by not utilizing a whistleblower policy.
The retired former finance chief of the organization, Wilson Phillips, was ordered to pay $2 million to the organization.
The New York attorney general celebrated the verdict.
“In New York, you cannot get away with corruption and greed, no matter how powerful or influential you think you may be,” James wrote Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Everyone, even the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, must play by the same rules.”
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