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Timothy Shea's sentence was the longest imposed over the "We
Build the Wall" campaign, which federal prosecutors said raised
more than $25 million from hundreds of thousands of donors.
Two other defendants, who pleaded guilty, received shorter
prison terms. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also charged
in the case, but Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his
presidency.
A Manhattan jury in October found Shea, of Castle Rock,
Colorado, guilty on two conspiracy counts and one count of
obstruction of justice after a one-week trial. An earlier trial
ended last June in a hung jury.
In sentencing Shea, 52, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said
he helped his co-defendants launder looted donor funds through
shell companies, even as they claimed all the money was going to
build the wall, and kept $180,000 for himself.
"They hurt us all by eroding the public's faith in the political
process," Torres said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
The sentence matched the recommendation by the U.S. Attorney's
office in Manhattan, which brought the case.
Prosecutors argued in court papers that he viewed the campaign
as a "personal piggybank" and tried to deflect blame for his
misconduct.
Shea's defense lawyer had sought a prison term of about two
years. He said the fundraising plan was not Shea's idea, and
that while Shea was paid he did actual work for the project.
Two other defendants, the campaign's leader Brian Kolfage and
Andrew Badolato, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in April to
4-1/4 years and three years in prison, respectively. Torres said
on Tuesday their health issues were significant mitigating
factors.
Bannon was criminally charged last September by Manhattan
District Attorney Alvin Bragg with state law violations arising
from the wall campaign.
Bannon pleaded not guilty and faces a trial next May 27.
Presidential pardons do not cover state prosecutions.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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