Ex-Trump aide Bannon pleads guilty in US border wall fraud case

Steve Bannon, a former advisor to US President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding donors who contributed money to a private scheme to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Bannon, 71, entered a guilty plea to New York state charges as part of an agreement with prosecutors that spared him prison time.

Bannon was indicted in 2022 for his role in a project called "We Build the Wall," which involved private fundraising to build the southern border wall.

Bannon, one of the masterminds behind Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, also faced federal charges over the scheme but received a pardon at the end of the Republican's first term in the White House.

The right-wing ideologue pleaded guilty to a state charge Tuesday of involvement in a "scheme to defraud in the first degree" and was given a three-year conditional discharge, which does not involve jail time or restitution.

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Bannon served nearly four months in prison last year after being convicted of contempt of Congress.

He was sent to jail for defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

Bannon served in the White House during Trump's first term as his chief strategist, but he left after seven months, reportedly due to conflicts with other top staffers.

Though he no longer works officially for Trump, he has remained a vocal backer of the Republican president, mainly through his podcast "The War Room."

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