Brian Kolfage, the We Build the Wall co-founder who pleaded guilty last year to swiping donations meant to fund President Trump’s border wall, was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison, the Department of Justice announced.
The former Steve Bannon associate received 51 months behind bars for his role in the crowdfunding scheme, while co-defendant Andrew Badolato was sentenced Wednesday to three years following his guilty plea last year.
“Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato abused the trust of donors to We Build the Wall and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to line their own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday. “The defendants have now been held accountable for their criminal conduct.”
Another co-defendant, Timothy Shea, is scheduled to be sentenced in June after being convicted by a New York City jury in October.
Kolfage, Badolato, Shea and others allegedly “orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors” through their initiative to fund the wall between the U.S. and Mexico, promising not to take any of the money for themselves, prosecutors said. The fundraiser allegedly raised more than $25 million.
Trump adviser Steve Bannon faces a trial for state charges related to scheme. Trump previously pardoned Bannon of federal charges before leaving the Oval Office in 2021.
In February, Bannon said during a Manhattan Supreme Court appearance, “I ain’t going to prison. It’s all a sham.”
Kolfage, an Air Force veteran and triple amputee, and Badolato both pleaded guilty in April 2022 to wire fraud conspiracy. Kolfage also pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on Wednesday ordered Kolfage, 41, and Badolato, 58, to pay $25 million.
“The fraud perpetrated by Mr. Kolfage and Mr. Badolato went well beyond defrauding individual donors,” Torres said Wednesday. “They hurt us all.”
Kolfage said he feels “remorseful, disgusted, humiliated,” telling the judge he originally aimed to put “a spotlight on the country’s broken immigration system.”