Ex-N.R.A. chief Wayne LaPierre found liable for financial misconduct
A Manhattan jury found that the National Rifle Association’s former leader had used the group’s funds to pay for lavish personal expenses, including vacations and luxury flights.
NEW YORK — In a sweeping rebuke of the National Rifle Association, the nation’s most prominent gun rights group, a Manhattan jury ruled Friday that its leaders had engaged in a yearslong pattern of financial misconduct and corruption.
The jury, after a week of deliberations, found that the group’s former leader, Wayne LaPierre, had used N.R.A. funds to pay for personal expenses, including vacations, luxury flights for his relatives and yacht rides, and that two other top executives had failed in their fiduciary duties to the nonprofit organization.
Once one of the most powerful lobbying groups in American politics, the N.R.A. had already suffered setbacks, defections and internal strife in recent years, all while guns continued to play an outsize role in political debates between more conservative states seeking to enhance access to them and liberal bastions, like New York, that have sought to stem the tide.
The case, brought by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, touched the uppermost echelons of the gun rights group. In addition to LaPierre, the defendants included the group’s former treasurer, Wilson Phillips, and its general counsel, John Frazer. The N.R.A. itself was also a defendant, and found to have ignored whistle-blower complaints and submitted false filings to the state.
The decision in the suit brought by James was undoubtedly a low-water mark for the group. It was the second major victory for her in a week, following a judgment of at least $454 million levied against former President Donald J. Trump in a civil fraud trial.
“For years, Wayne LaPierre used charitable dollars to fund his lavish lifestyle, spending millions on luxury travel, expensive clothes, insider contracts, and other perks for himself and his family,” James said in a statement. “Today, after years of rampant corruption and self-dealing, Wayne LaPierre and the N.R.A. are finally being held accountable.”
Jurors found that LaPierre had misspent $5.4 million. He has repaid some of that sum, but must still repay $4.35 million. Phillips must repay $2 million.
The judge overseeing the case will decide in a second phase of the trial whether a monitor should be installed to monitor the N.R.A.’s administration of charitable assets, and whether LaPierre and Phillips should be barred from serving as officers or directors of any other New York nonprofits, James said in her statement.
On Friday, anti-gun groups hailed the verdict as a long overdue reproach.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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