NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding donors to on the U.S. southern border, ending a case the conservative strategist decried as a 鈥減olitical persecution.鈥�
Spared from jail as part of a plea deal, he left court saying he 鈥渇elt like a million bucks.鈥�
Bannon, a longtime ally of President , pleaded guilty in state court in Manhattan to one count of scheme to defraud, a low-level felony. The case involved We Build the Wall, a non-profit that Bannon himself once suspected was a scam.
Bannon, 71, must stay out of trouble for three years to avoid additional punishment, including possible jail time. He also can鈥檛 raise money or serve as an officer or director for charities in New York and can鈥檛 use, sell, or possess any data gathered from border wall donors.
Bannon had been scheduled to go to trial March 4.
His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said Bannon wanted to 鈥減ut up a fight,鈥� but opted to plead guilty after weighing how a jury in heavily Democratic Manhattan might judge him. Under the deal, prosecutors agreed to drop money laundering and conspiracy charges against him.
Bannon鈥檚 plea deal came just days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Justice Department to investigate what Trump called the 鈥� .鈥�
Outside court, Bannon urged Bondi to immediately open criminal investigations into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted him, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump over his business practices and is leading legal challenges to his administration鈥檚 policies. Both are Democrats.
Bragg 鈥渃an call a grand jury at any time鈥� and 鈥渟et up criminal charges on the most bogus efforts,鈥� Bannon said. He called James the 鈥渜ueen of lawfare鈥� and warned that Trump and his allies "ought to be worried about this out-of-control city.鈥�
Bragg and James鈥� office didn't immediately respond to Bannon鈥檚 comments.
Bragg took up the case and charged Bannon with state offenses after Trump cut a federal prosecution short in the final hours of his first term in 2021. Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, not state offenses.
Bannon was charged with falsely promising donors, including some in New York, that all money given to would go toward erecting a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, prosecutors alleged the money was used to enrich Bannon and others involved in the project.
The campaign, launched in 2018 after Trump fired Bannon as his chief strategist, quickly raised over $20 million and privately built a few miles of fencing along the border. It soon ran into trouble with the International Boundary and Water Commission, came under federal investigation and , the Republican whose policy the charity was founded to support.
鈥淭his resolution achieves our primary goal: to protect New York鈥檚 charities and New Yorkers鈥� charitable giving from fraud,鈥� Bragg said in a statement. He added that "New York has an important interest in rooting out fraud in our markets, our corporations, and our charities, and we will continue to do just that.鈥�
Until recently, Bannon appeared set on taking the case to trial.
He hired new lawyers, including Aidala, and began plotting an aggressive defense strategy after Judge April Newbauer ruled prosecutors could show jurors certain evidence, including an email they say showed Bannon was concerned the fundraising effort wasn鈥檛 legit.
鈥淚sn鈥檛 this a scam? You can鈥檛 build the wall for this much money,鈥� Bannon wrote in an email, according to prosecutor Jeffrey Levinson. He said Bannon went on to add: 鈥淧oor Americans shouldn鈥檛 be using hard-earned money to chase something not doable.鈥�
In January, Bannon鈥檚 lawyers filed papers asking Newbauer to throw out the case, calling it an 鈥渦nconstitutional selective enforcement of the law.鈥� The judge had been expected to rule on Tuesday before Bannon鈥檚 plea deal made the request moot.
Two other men involved in the We Build the Wall project, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, and were sentenced to prison. A third defendant, Timothy Shea, was convicted and also sentenced to prison.
Bannon went to prison in an unrelated case last year, serving four months at a federal lockup in Connecticut for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. He was released in October.
___
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at and send confidential tips by visiting .
Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
