Steve Bannon, President Trump’s former White House chief strategist, admitted Tuesday to defrauding New Yorkers who donated to his “We Build the Wall” online fundraiser — but will serve no prison time as part of the plea deal.
Bannon, 71, wearing his signature dusted brown jacket, pleaded guilty to one count of scheme to defraud in the $15 million border wall fundraising scam before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge April Newbauer.
“Do you now plead guilty to count 5, scheme to defraud,” a court clerk asked, to which Bannon responded, “Yes.”
Bannon was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge, which means he will not serve any time in prison. He will also not be required to pay restitution.
He was set to go to trial on March 4 for the “We Build the Wall” campaign — a purported fundraiser to help build a wall on the US-Mexico border — where he and others were accused of lying to potential donors by claiming “not one penny” would go to its president, US Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, who lost three limbs in a 2004 bomb blast in Iraq.
But prosecutors said that Kolfage pocketed more than $250,000 in salary funded by donations, alleging that the money was used to enrich Bannon and others involved in the scheme.
Bannon said he felt “like a million bucks” following the sentencing — while calling on US Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin an immediate criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for “what they did to President Trump.”
Both Bannon and his attorney, Arthur Aidala, said they believed that he couldn’t get a fair trial due to the jury pool that “overwhelmingly voted against [Trump]” in the Big Apple.
Aidala called the deal a “spectacular disposition” since Bannon skirts any real punishment other than restrictions to charity work.
Under the plea agreement, Bannon must avoid being rearrested to avoid additional punishment. He is also barred from fundraising for or serving as “an officer, director, or in any other fiduciary position” for any organization in New York state.
Bannon is also prohibited from using, selling or processing any data gathered from donors to We Build the Wall.
If he were to violate any conditions of the plea, he faces a maximum indeterminate sentence of 1 ⅓ to 4 years in state prison, prosecutors said.
Bragg said in a statement that the resolution achieves his office’s primary goal of protecting New York’s charities against fraud.
“New York has an important interest in rooting out fraud in our markets, our corporations, and our charities, and we will continue to do just that,” Bragg said.
It was Bannon’s first felony conviction. He was found guilty of contempt, a misdemeanor, for lying to Congress in 2022. He served four months in a federal prison before being released in November.
