Ex-NRA chief Wayne LaPierre found liable for financial misconduct

In a sharp rebuke of the National Rifle Association, the nation’s most prominent gun rights group, a Manhattan jury found Friday that NRA leaders had engaged in a pattern of financial misconduct and corruption.

The jury concluded after a week of deliberation that the group’s former leader, Wayne LaPierre, had used NRA funds to pay for personal expenses, including vacations, luxury flights for his family members and rides on superyachts. Jurors found that he misspent $5.4 million, some of which he repaid.

The trial, in the courtroom of Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen, stemmed from a lawsuit Brought 2020 by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The NRA, that one was chartered as a non-profit organization in The New York of 1871 has been plagued by financial problems and internal conflict in recent years.

Lawyers for Ms. James, a Democrat, presented evidence at trial that Mr. LaPierre had wasted millions of dollars on a series of improper expenses, some of which bordered on the bizarre, such as using helicopters to avoid traffic while traveling to NASCAR races. Other expense reports showed Mr. LaPierre seeking reimbursement for mosquito treatment and landscaping at his home.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Danny Hakim reporting contributed.