(New York) Former head of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Wayne LaPierre, who resigned in January from this very influential arms lobby on the American political system, was judged Friday by New York civil justice guilty of mismanagement and corruption.
This verdict of a jury of a New York civil court, revealed by the American judicial press and confirmed by the Attorney General of the State of New York, Letitia James, is accompanied by financial compensation for Mr. LaPierre. more than $4.3 million.
PHOTO BEBETO MATTHEWS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
New York State Attorney General Letitia James
In total, “Wayne LaPierre and a senior NRA executive must pay $6.35 million for abusing the system and violating our laws,” thundered on X (ex Twitter) Mme James, the highest judge in the State of New York and also a sort of local Minister of Justice.
“It’s a major victory,” said the prosecutor who on February 16, by a civil court in New York, sentenced former President Donald Trump to a fine of at least $355 million before interests for financial fraud within his Trump Organization real estate empire.
According to ABC television, the jury in the NRA trial determined that Mr. LaPierre – its former historic leader – had cost his organization some $5.4 million through his mismanagement.
But he has already repaid a million.
PHOTO CRAIG RUTTLE, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Wayne LaPierre
“Powerful and influential”
“In New York, you can’t get away with corruption and greed even if you think you feel powerful and influential. Everyone, even the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, must play by the same rules,” insisted M.me James, an elected African-American magistrate from the Democratic Party who tracks corruption among elected officials and businesses in her state of 20 million inhabitants, including nearly nine million in the megalopolis of New York.
She launched civil action in August 2020 and investigated for almost a year and a half.
LaPierre was being sued for lavish personal expenses paid by the NRA and other misuses of corporate assets, including plane trips and stays on yachts.
Mr. LaPierre and the NRA have denied all accusations.
Three days before his trial in early January, this 74-year-old leader announced his resignation as head of the NRA on January 31, after three decades as head of an organization of five million members, with very strong influence over elected officials. of Congress and on American politics.
The 150-year-old association, supposedly non-profit, is registered in New York and declared bankruptcy in 2021. But this procedure failed.
It is under the leadership of Mr. LaPierre that the lobby has become extremely active with political leaders whom it finances or rates unfavorably, managing to block in Congress legislative proposals considered to limit the constitutional right to own and carry a firearm.
For example, the NRA contributed tens of millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s victorious campaign in 2016.
The United States has more personal weapons than people: one in three adults owns at least one weapon and nearly one in two adults lives in a home where a weapon is present.
The consequence of this proliferation is the very high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, incomparable to that of other developed countries.
About 49,000 people died from gunfire in 2021, compared to 45,000 in 2020, which was already a record year.
This represents more than 130 deaths per day, more than half of which are suicides.