A former top National Rifle Association executive has admitted wrongdoing in a New York corruption case, agreeing to pay $100,000 just before he and four others are set to be tried next week.
Joshua Powell, who served as the NRA’s executive director of operations and chief of staff to CEO Wayne LaPierre between 2016 and 2020, agreed to the settlement Friday, just hours after his former boss announced he would resign at the end of the month.
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“Joshua Powell’s admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre’s resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt,” James said in a statement. “More than three years ago, my office sued the NRA and its senior management for financial abuse and mismanagement. These are important victories in our case, and we look forward to ensuring the NRA and the defendants face justice for their actions.”
James’s suit alleges that NRA senior management “misappropriated millions of dollars to fund personal benefits, including private jets, expensive meals, and even family trips to the Bahamas,” according to her office.
In signing the settlement agreement, Powell admitted that he “breached his fiduciary duties and failed to administer the charitable assets entrusted to his care by … using his powers as an officer and senior executive of the NRA to convert charitable assets for his own benefit and for the benefit of his family members.”
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Responding to the lawsuit in August 2020, NRA officials called it a “baseless premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend.”
LaPierre, 74, cited health reasons for his resignation. The trial is still scheduled to begin Monday.
