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A Kaimuki High School graduate and Air Force veteran who lost both legs in a mortar attack in Iraq pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in defrauding donors to the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign he co-founded with former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon.
Brian Kolfage, 39, entered a plea of guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Kolfage, who now lives in Miramar, Fla., also pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud charges filed by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Kolfage moved to Oahu when he was in the seventh grade and enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from Kaimuki High School in 1999. The state House of Representatives recognized his service and sacrifice in Iraq with a resolution during the 2018 session.
On Aug. 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Kolfage of conspiring with Bannon, financier Andrew Badalato and others to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors who gave money to an online crowdfunding campaign that reportedly raised more than $25 million to support the construction of a wall across the southern U.S. border.
Badalato, 57, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy Thursday. He worked with Bannon on the private nonprofit, which was founded with the mission of spreading “economic nationalism and American sovereignty,” according to federal court documents.
Bannon was pardoned by Trump just before he left office in 2021. Bannon had pleaded not guilty to charges he pocketed over $1 million, using some of the money to secretly pay Kolfage.
Kolfage had promised donors he would work for free, according to federal court documents, and that all donations would support building the wall. From January to October 2019, however, he received more than $350,000 in donor funds, funneled to him through falsified business records, including vendor agreements, the documents said.
Kolfage used the money to pay for personal expenses including home renovations, payments toward a boat, a luxury SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments and credit card debt, according to the indictment.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6 in New York. A plea agreement between the government and Kolfage specified he will not challenge sentences within an agreed-to guidelines range of four to five years.
Without the plea deal, he could have faced up to 46 years in prison.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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