According to the Department of Justice, two friends of former White House advisor Steve Bannon received prison sentences on Wednesday for defrauding contributors to a campaign to erect a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.
Driving the news: Florida’s Miramar Beach resident Brian Kolfage, 41, was given a 51-month prison term for his participation in the campaign, which raised more than $25 million from tens of thousands of donors.
According to the DOJ, Andrew Badolato, 58, of Cocoa, Florida, was also given a 36-month prison term for his involvement in the scheme.
Why it matters: Federal prosecutors indicted Bannon, Kolfage and Badolato over the campaign in August 2020. Trump later pardoned Bannon over his alleged misappropriation of fundraising funds.
Trump issued the pardon in the final hours of his presidency, even though most of the money came from his supporters.
Details: Starting in December 2018, Kolfage, Badolato, their co-defendant Timothy Shea and others began soliciting donations through a GoFundMe campaign called “We Build The Wall,” which had a goal of raising $1 billion.
During the campaign, Kolfage repeatedly claimed that all donations would be used for the wall’s construction.
