https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpk267dvwo Steve Bannon, a long-time ally of President Donald Trump, has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors who paid for a private scheme for a wall on the US-Mexico border. Bannon, 71, received a sentence of conditional discharge for three years, which means he will not serve jail time under a plea agreement. The US Department of Justice accused Bannon and three others of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with the "We Build the Wall" campaign, which raised $25m (£19m). Bannon's lawyer said on Tuesday he didn't personally pocket any of the money. The "We Build the Wall" campaign was launched by Bannon and the three others to use donations to build segments of the border barrier - whose construction was a key Trump promise during the 2016 election - on private land. The four were charged with money laundering and conspiracy after being accused of deceiving donors who had contributed millions of dollars to the fundraising drive in 2019. According to the indictment, Bannon told donors he was "kind of a volunteer" to the We Build the Wall non-profit, which raised more than $25m (£22m) from thousands of people. Despite his vow that "not a penny" would be pocketed by him or others, he diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars to two associates, prosecutors alleged. Under the agreement, Bannon entered a guilty plea to just the first degree scheme to defraud charge. The sentence also means he cannot serve as the director of any non-profit in New York or raise money for charities with assets in the state. "This resolution achieves our primary goal: to protect New York's charities and New Yorkers' charitable giving from fraud," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Dems spent our money to make cats eat cats, they identify as cannibal cats. Everyone with common sense is leaving the Dems.
Had it been a federal criminal case instead of a state criminal case against Bannon and he had been convicted...Trump would have pardoned his buddy under the facade he felt Bannon didn't know what would happen after diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to his buddies from the charity funds for the construction of the southern border wall on private land. wrbtrader