Timothy Shea, a Colorado businessman who helped run a "Build the Wall" donation fraud on MAGA's legion of credit-card waving suckers, was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison yesterday. He's the third man convicted in the scheme, after Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato.
The fundraising scheme started on GoFundMe, but it was impossible to directly transfer money to the federal government, and GoFundMe threatened to return the cash to donors unless a nonprofit entity was identified, according to court documents.
That's when Bannon and Badolato got involved, according to prosecutors, and all four men started a nonprofit entity called "We Build the Wall, Inc.," prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.
Promises were made that "100%" of the funds would be used in the effort to build a wall, and Kolfage promised to take no compensation, prosecutors wrote.
"Those representations were lies," the U.S. attorney's office said.
Kolfage took more than $350,000 for his personal use, and Shea kept more than $180,000, prosecutors said.
Former White House advisor Steve Bannon, also charged in the scheme, was pardoned by then-president Donald Trump and never stood trial.
Former White House senior adviser and top Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was confronted by a Ron DeSantis supporter over allegations that he defrauded people who donated to a campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chris Nelson, a right-wing provocateur who is known to support the Florida governor and 2024 candidate, uploaded a video of himself approaching Bannon and his team on Sunday at the Turning Point Action conference in West Palm Beach, Florida.
During the encounter, Nelson questioned Bannon over claims he defrauded thousands of people who had donated to a "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign to the tune of $15 million. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to several charges.
