A New York jury on Friday found the NRA’s CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre illegally diverted millions of dollars from the non-profit to his own personal use and enrichment, NBC News reports.
In a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2020, prosecutors showed LaPierre, corporate secretary and general counsel John Frazer, and the group’s former treasurer and CFO Wilson “Woody” Phillips used the NRA accounts as their personal slush fund, paying for things like foreign travel, clothes for LaPierre and his wife, and private jet flights. The jury also found that the NRA itself was negligent for failing to properly oversee its corporate functions.
The jury ordered LaPierre to repay $4.4 million, finding that he had already returned $1 million of the amount he illegally obtained. Phillips will have to repay $2 million. Frazer was not found financially responsible and was permitted to keep his position within the organization.