Yet another key figure in former White House adviser Steve Bannon’s beleaguered — and apparently illegal — fundraiser for a wall between the United States and Mexico has been sentenced to prison.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced that Timothy Shea, a Bannon associate involved in the “We Build the Wall” scheme, has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for crimes related to the online crowdfunding campaign.
Colorado man sentenced to prison for “We Build the Wall” online fundraising fraud schemehttps://t.co/DaQFBdpme6
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) July 25, 2023
Shea was convicted last year of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors have said he joined Bannon and others in misusing funds they ostensibly raised to build the wall that former President Donald Trump vowed to erect along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon served as chair of the advisory board for WeBuildTheWall Inc.
Trump, of course, repeatedly said as president that he’d make Mexico pay for the wall, so any push to have Trump supporters pay for it was always destined to be a grift. But the fact that multiple people involved have now received prison time suggests this particular grift wasn’t just immoral — it was illegal.
Along with Shea, two other men — Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato — were federally charged in the scheme. They pleaded guilty last year and were also sentenced to prison.
Bannon’s business buddies never came up with that wall. But the feds have now given them four of their own.
And Bannon could face a similar fate. You may remember that Trump pardoned him as he faced federal charges over the scheme in Trump’s final hours as president — but Bannon is now facing related state charges in New York.
As NBC News reported last September, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Bannon had “acted as the architect” of a multimillion-dollar scheme “to defraud thousands of donors across the country — including hundreds of Manhattan residents.” Bannon pleaded not guilty and is set for trial in May.
If it’s walls that Bannon wants, the New York prison system is full of them.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.