Bannon Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Border Wall Case but Will Serve No Time
The New York Times
President Trump had already pardoned his adviser in a similar federal case, which accused him of skimming money from donations to build a southern border barrier.
Stephen K. Bannon, a longtime adviser to President Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Manhattan criminal court to a single count of defrauding donors who sought to help build a wall at the southern border.
Mr. Bannon’s plea deal stipulates that he will be given a three-year conditional discharge, meaning he will receive no prison time if he does not reoffend.
He had faced five felony counts, including money laundering and conspiracy charges, and faced a maximum sentence of five to 15 years on the most serious charge.
In the courtroom Tuesday, Mr. Bannon sat among his three lawyers and answered “Yes, your honor” as the judge, April A. Newbauer, asked him detailed questions about his understanding of the deal and the rights he was surrendering, including his right to appeal. Mr. Bannon’s trial had been scheduled to begin in March.
Mr. Bannon was charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office in 2022 with a scheme to swindle donors who contributed to a group called We Build the Wall, a seeming grass-roots effort to fulfill a key promise of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Rather than make a border wall a reality, the prosecutors said, Mr. Bannon funneled more than $100,000 in donations to the organization’s president.
