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.
Even after this , I doubt they will ever regain the clout they once had.
Here is a suggestion, quit begging for money. The NRA will put aggressive panhandlers to shame.
Was a member forty years ago. Then more recently for ten or fifteen years up until two years ago. The constant aggressive begging is ridiculous. They stopped supporting the average 2nd Amendment supporter years ago. May LaPierre rot in Hell.
4.3M, I wonder how much, how soon the NRA organization will get the funds, and how much money/assets LaPierre has to turn over/liquidate to pay the fine/judgement. Let’s hope new/better management takes notice and has better oversight that the corruption won’t happen in the future, the goals/programs of the NRA are bedrock with American values, I, for one, hope the organization gets back “on track” with those values. Time will tell.
ebk921
I agree with John – it is not nearly enough money.
The NRA needs to ask for money, and some of us have considerable in escrow – but they will not get it until they elect a Board that was not part of the current regime. If, and when, that changes I hope that every gun owner in the country will carefully examine who is running the NRA at that time and contribute accordingly.
Maybe the day will come when two other gun control organizations get egg on their faces. Talking about Negotiating rights away and provide anti-gun talking points Illinois State Rifle Association or red flag law writing Illinois Carry.
Isn’t it ironic that we applaud La-Titty-ah for this suit and condemn her for what she’s doing to our real president in another?
Wayne LaPierre has sucked almost since he took office in the NRA.