President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to felony fraud on Tuesday by helping to fraudulent donors who are giving money to build walls on the US southern border Ta.
In exchange for his guilty plea in New York Crown Court, Bannon, 71, agreed to a conditional discharge and waived his right to appeal.
Bannon was sentenced to conditional discharge for three years. He is not permitted to serve as a New York State charity or charity, or as an officer or director of a New York State funding or nonprofit organization. He is not permitted to receive or retain charity assets. He also cannot be arrested during that period.
If he violates the terms of the transaction, he could face one and a half to four years behind the bar.
Judge April Newbauer asked Bannon if he understood the terms of his consent. “Yes, your honor,” Bannon replied.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, “This resolution is achieving our main goal: to protect New York charities and New York’s charitable contributions from fraud.”
Bannon appears to have repented after the courtroom, calling Bragg and state Attorney General Letia James a “existential threat” to the Trump administration, referring to the criminal and civil cases the two pose against the president. .
“I am now asking Attorney General Pam Bondy to launch an immediate criminal investigation into all Letia James and Alvin Bragg for what he has done to President Trump,” Bannon said.
Bannon was first attacked by a scheme-related charge in August 2020 in another case by federal prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty and was pardoned by Trump in the final hours of his first term in office.
Prosecutors at Bragg’s office indicted Bannon in the current case in August 2022. Bannon pleaded not guilty at the time, calling the case “partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
The indictment was charged with Bannon, a con man who gave money to build a wall on the southern border during Trump’s first term. Prosecutors say they scam a donor who gave more than $15 million in 2019 as part of a fundraiser called “We Build the Wall.”
Bannon and others say 100% of the donations are one of Trump’s 2016 campaign promises, not towards those who are making that effort, but towards building walls. I did. Federal authorities said Bannon will use his nonprofit to receive more than $1 million in wall construction funds and use the money to pay the wall group president.
Bannon was scheduled to go to court on March 4th. Trump was unable to forgive him as he faced state charges, not federal.
Bannon was found guilty of parliamentary empt on January 6, 2021 for refusing to testify before the House Selection Committee, which investigates events surrounding the Capitol riots, and last year he was sentenced to four in prison. I spent the month. White House records showed Bannon had multiple conversations with Trump on or just before January 6th.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
Source link