In Donald J. Trump’s final hours as president in January 2021, he pardoned his former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, who was accused of conspiring to defraud donors to a private group that promised to build a wall along the Mexican border. .
But three men accused of Mr. Bannon was not pardoned, and two of them are expected to plead guilty Thursday in Manhattan’s Federal District Court, court files show.
One is Brian Kolfage, a 40-year Air Force veteran from Miramar Beach, Florida, who lost both legs and an arm while serving in Iraq, and who founded the fundraising campaign for the privately-owned We Build the Wall project, intended to of Mr Trump’s signature political initiatives.
Building a wall along the southwestern border of the country to ward off migrants became a rallying cry for Mr. Trump during his presidency, and the charges against Mr. Bannon and his co-defendants suggested that they could undermine the popularity of the issue under Trump. supporters had been exploited to get donors to their project for their own gain.
“The defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, leveraging their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all that money would be spent on construction,” said Audrey Strauss, when the US attorney in Manhattan, when the charges were announced in August 2020.
The other defendant to plead guilty Thursday is Andrew Badolato, 57, a venture capitalist from Sarasota, Florida, court records show. The fourth, Timothy Shea, 51, of Castle Rock, Colorado, had made a preliminary deal to plead guilty but changed his mind, prosecutors said in a recent lawsuit. mr. Shea is scheduled for his trial on May 16.
The We Build the Wall case has been widely watched, initially due to its connection to Mr. Bannon and then, after his pardon, because the three less well-connected defendants were prosecuted.
mr. Bannon, 68, could still play a part in the case if Mr. Shea faces court next month. For example, Mr. Shea’s attorney, John C. Meringolo, has said in court documents that the defense plans to call Mr. Bannon as a witness.
“We do not believe that the government can prove their case against Tim Shea beyond reasonable doubt,” said Mr. Meringolo by phone this week.
When the charges were made public, prosecutors said that, in order to encourage donors to contribute, Mr. Bannon and Mr. Kolfage “repeatedly and falsely assured the public” that Mr. Kolfage “would not pay a cent in salary or compensation.” get”, and that all the money raised would be used “in carrying out our mission and purpose”.
According to the indictment, the fundraising campaign has raised more than $25 million for the project.
But prosecutors said Bannon and his co-defendants misrepresented the actual use of the donated funds.
The indictment accused Mr. Bannon of transferring more than $1 million from the project through a nonprofit organization he managed, and using the money to pay, among other things, Mr. Kolfage and hundreds of thousands of dollars in Mr. Bannon cover.
According to the indictment, Mr. Kolfage donated more than $350,000 in funds and used that money to pay for home renovations, a luxury SUV, boat payments, a golf cart, cosmetic surgery, and jewelry.
Mr Kolfage will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit telefraud, prosecutors said in their court file. He will also plead guilty to federal tax-related charges filed against him in Florida and later moved to New York.
According to the 2021 news reports, Mr. Bannon is still being separately investigated by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office for his role in the project. The grace of mr. Trump from mr. Bannon only applied to federal crimes, not state crimes.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment.
Jonah E. Bromwich reporting contributed.
