Former National Rifle Association (NRA) head Wayne LaPierre was ordered to pay more than $4 million for mismanaging charitable funds to the organization he led for over three decades.
The Manhattan jury found that LaPierre, along with other leaders of the prominent gun rights group, diverted millions of dollars for lavish personal trips and other questionable expenses, according to the Associated Press.
The jury found that LaPierre, who stepped down from NRA in early January, has to pay $4.3 million in damages. It found he had caused $5.4 million in damages to the organization, but had already repaired over $1 million.
The trial came after New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, brought a lawsuit against the gun rights advocacy group in 2020. The verdict is the latest hit to the organization, which has struggled with shrinking membership and financial woes — including an attempt at bankruptcy in 2021.
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Jurors also found that the non-profit misrepresented information in its tax filing and broke New York state law by not utilizing a whistleblower policy.
The retired former finance chief of the organization, Wilson Phillips, was ordered to pay $2 million to the organization.
The New York attorney general celebrated the verdict.
“In New York, you cannot get away with corruption and greed, no matter how powerful or influential you think you may be,” James wrote Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Everyone, even the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, must play by the same rules.”
The news comes over a month after LaPierre announced his resignation as the head of the organization, citing health concerns.
“I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever,” he wrote at the time.
The group’s major legal victories under LaPierre include last year’s Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which threw out New York state handgun regulation and started a wave of legal challenges to other gun control measures in dozens of states.
While the former head denied any wrongdoing, LaPierre admitted during the trial that he used the company funds for personal trips and gifts.
NRA officials responded to Friday’s verdict, claiming it showed proof that the association was “victimized” by “insiders” who abused the members’ trust.
“A parade of NRA witnesses and independent experts established that the NRA was the victim of actions that were pursued in secrecy and not in the interests of the Association – by former vendors and fiduciaries,” NRA counsel William A. Brewer III said in a statement.
“In any event, the NYAG’s case focused on the past and the NRA lives in the present. It was the NRA that ultimately established the record being pursued by the NYAG,” he added. “Our client looks forward to phase two of these proceedings — emboldened by its record of good governance.”