A National Rifle Association executive reached a last-minute deal with New York Attorney General Letitia James on Saturday on the eve of a multimillion-dollar civil corruption trial against the organization that begins Monday.
Joshua Powell, former executive director of the embattled nonprofit and one of five defendants named in the attorney general’s lawsuit, agreed to pay $100,000 and admitted to misusing charitable funds, according to a statement from James’s office.
Powell was the former chief of staff to Wayne LaPierre, the longtime NRA leader who resigned Friday after three decades leading the gun rights group. LaPierre is due out on Jan. 31, the group said in a statement.
“Joshua Powell’s admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre’s resignation confirm what we have asserted for years: the NRA and its top leaders are financially corrupt,” James said in the statement.
“More than three years ago, my office sued the NRA and its senior management for decades of financial abuse and mismanagement. “These are important victories in our case and we look forward to ensuring that the NRA and the defendants face justice for their actions.”
Wayne La Pierre, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, resigned this week after more than 30 years leading the gun rights group. AP
James filed the lawsuit against the group in 2020, alleging that senior management used the nonprofit as their “personal piggy bank,” allegedly using millions of dollars in donations for expensive meals, family trips to the Caribbean and private jets.
An effort by the NRA to dismiss New York’s lawsuit against them failed in January 2021, the same month the group filed for bankruptcy and announced it would leave “toxic” New York and rejoin Texas.
Although headquartered in Virginia, the group was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in New York in 1871 and incorporated into the state.
New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the NRA of using her donations as a “personal piggy bank” in a civil lawsuit filed against the nonprofit in 2020. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are getting rid of New York and carrying out plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas,” LaPierre said at the time.
In May 2021, a federal judge dismissed the bankruptcy case saying it was not filed in good faith.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn