For years Wayne LaPierre dismissed charges of malfeasance under his watch as unfounded. He fired or replaced whistleblowers like Col. Oliver North. And then Latitia James caught up with him.
On Friday a jury convicted the face of the NRA for mismanagement and misuse of charitable funds. As it was a civil trial, there was no provision for jail time upon conviction. The jury could order a guilty party to pay restitution. And they ordered Mr. LaPierre to cough up $4.3 million.
Frankly, I think he got off easy. The verdict probably could have been ten times that.
A New York jury found National Rifle Association (NRA) boss Wayne LaPierre liable in a civil case on Friday, ordering him to pay $4.3 million in damages for the mismanagement and misuse of charitable funds.
The verdict concludes a trial in the civil lawsuit brought by the Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York, accusing Mr. LaPierre of questionable financial practices during his tenure from 2014 to 2022.
The jury found that Mr. LaPierre violated his fiduciary duties, causing $5.4 million in damages to the NRA.
Notably, they recognized that he had repaid just over $1 million to the charity, which reduced the net damages.
In addition to the financial penalty, the jury determined that Mr. LaPierre should be removed from his position as executive vice president of the gun rights group.
The Manhattan jury found that Mr. LaPierre had misused millions of dollars from the organization’s funds to make personal luxury purchases over a span of 30 years.
The jury did not find Mr. LaPierre liable for breaking laws against self-dealing regarding a post-employment contract with the NRA, valued at over $17 million. They found that the arrangement had been properly approved in advance by the NRA board.
Despite Mr. LaPierre’s recent resignation, the judge will now decide whether to permanently bar him from any future leadership roles within the NRA in an upcoming bench trial.
Jury deliberations in the case began on Feb. 16.
Comments are closed.