Former NRA chief Wayne LaPierre misspent gun rights group’s money, owes more than $4M, jury finds

NEW YORK (AP) — The longtime head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, misspent millions of dollars of the organization’s money, using the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle that included exotic getaways and trips on private planes and superyachts, a New York jury determined Friday.

The jury ordered LaPierre, 74, to repay almost $4.4 million to the powerful gun rights group that he led for three decades. It also ordered the NRA’s retired finance chief, Wilson Phillips, to pay back the group $2 million. Jurors additionally found that the NRA omitted or misrepresented information in its tax filings and violated New York law by failing to adopt a whistleblower policy.

LaPierre sat stone-faced in the front row of the courtroom as the verdict was read aloud.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who campaigned on investigating the NRA’s not-for-profit status, declared the verdict a “major victory.”

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