| In
We Build The Wall Case Shea Got 63 Months
now Request to Stay out pending Appeal
Denied
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 20 –
The Southern District of New
York courthouse, which Inner
City Press has covered nearly
alone this summer amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, was jumping
on August 20, 2022 Video here.
In the afternoon, Steve Bannon
would appear in person before
a judge. After pleading not
guilty, he told the press as
he left the courthouse, "This
entire fiasco is to stop
people who want to build the
wall."
This came after
more than two hours of
chanting by three then six
people with flags, pro-Bannon:
"CCP violence, stop the
killing." Inner City Press
spoke with them, video here.
And see coverage
of Guo case here,
podcast here
On August
31, 2020 U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Judge Analisa Torres
held a proceeding, and Inner
City Press live tweeted it,
below.
On June 7, 2021
Judge Torres declared a
mistrial on all three counts.
Inner City Press live tweeted
it here
and below.
In the re-trial,
Shea was convicted. Then on
November 3, this from the US:
" on October 29, 2022—after
the jury returned a verdict on
October 28, 2022—one of the
undersigned Assistant United
States Attorneys (the “AUSA”)
received a communication from
an individual whom the
Government has learned is the
adult child of a juror
(“Person-1”)" full letter on
Patreon here.
After that
filing, as noted with sadness
by Inner City Press on
November 17, Shea's lawyer in
both trials John Maringolo
died: "He was an spunky as
ever during the Tim Shea
re-trial, very folksy with the
jury, and funny outside of the
courtroom too. This is very
unexpected and sad."
Shea was
appointed a new lawyer under
the Criminal Justice Act:
"ORDER as to Timothy Shea: The
C.J.A. attorney assigned to
receive cases on November 21,
2022, Thomas H. Nooter, is
hereby ordered to assume
representation of the
defendant in the above
captioned matter, nunc pro
tunc November 21, 2022."
On June 12, the
US Attorney's Office admitted
to an incorrect jury
instruction (wire fraud
conspiracy should not have
been described as meeting the
definition of specified
unlawful activity). Nooter
asked for delay to look into
previous, he says, ineffective
assistance of counsel. The new
date in July 25.
On July 14, Judge
Torres denied Shea's motions:
"Defendant has waived any
objection to the jury
instructions because the
parties jointly submitted a
proposed jury charge before
the first and second trials,
see Gill, 674 F. App’x at 58,
and Defendant did not object
to the Court’s proposed jury
charge at either trial. Having
jointly proposed the erroneous
jury instruction, which the
Court adopted at both trials,
Defendant has waived any
challenge to it."
On July 25, 2023,
TIm Shea was sentenced to 63
months. Inner City Press live
tweeted, thread:
OK - now We Build
the Wall sentencing of Tim
Shea. Inner City Press covered
the two trials
Assistant
US Attorney: Mr. Shea and his
co-defendants raised money by
fraud, for a political
cause. It victimized
society. It harms our
democracy. Everyone agrees Mr.
Shea is less culpable than Mr.
Kolfage or Mr. Badolato. But
he does not accept
responsibility
AUSA: They had a
banner, selling merchandise,
they claimed was for the wall.
Mr. Shea asked if it was true
and was told it was fine, it
couldn't be proved. He said he
just didn't want to go to
jail. Now he claims he was
some sort of whistleblower.
He's not. AUSA: We request 63
months in prison for Mr. Shea.
Defense: My
client is very religious. He
volunteers to his church and
his community. Mr.
Kolfage had indictments from
Florida. Mr. Badolato has some
other history, it was mostly
redacted, so I don't know....
Defense:
I've submitted information
under seal about problems his
wife has. [Now new
defense lawyer criticize prior
counsel's strategy -
understandable, perhaps, to
try to regain acceptance of
responsibility credit, but...
hmm. RIP]
Defense: For Mr.
Shea this was a business
opportunity. It would be like,
today, trying to sell Barbie
products. There's a lot of
interest in it. And he even
tried to build some wall.
Don't read from text messages,
from the outside. It got out
of control.
Defense: It
was a mistake to backdate
contracts, yes. Mr. Shea
believes it wasn't the way the
government said. I'm asking
the Court to take substantial
consideration of the man he
is, to his family. He would
not do this again.
Shea: I don't
want to waste your time. My
daughters are 14, my son is
17. My wife needs to work. I'm
different now. I ask that you
be lenient. Thank you.
Judge: The
guidelines are 108 to 135
months; amendments not in
effect would reduce it to 87
months. They generated
more than $20 million. They
claimed they would donate it
for a wall. They made
representations. They set up
shell companies. Mr. Shea kept
$180,000
Judge: They used
encrypted messaging
applications. They removed
from the website the promise
that Mr. Kolfage would not be
compensated. Two victim
testified at trial. A man from
Arizona said he donated $100,
and he felt he cheated. A
teacher from PA gave $50, same
Judge: His
brother Michael says he has
been loving and caring. His
daughter says he was always
there for her. His mother
calls him a family man. He has
taken responsibility for his
actions to a
certain degree.
Judge: This Court
has previously sentenced Mr.
Kolfage to 51 months, and Mr.
Badolato to 36 months. Both
have medical problems that Mr.
Shea doesn't. I sentence you
Mr. Shea to 63 months in
prison
Judge: You
have a right to appeal; notice
would be due in 14 days.
Defense: We ask for surrender
in 90 days. AUSA: The current
standard is 45 days. Judge:
The surrender date is October
23.
Defense: We'd
like a prison in Colorado.
Adjourned
On August 1, Shea
applied for public funding for
a lawyer not on the CJA panel:
"LETTER MOTION
addressed to Judge Analisa
Torres from Clara Kalhous
dated August 1, 2023 re:
Concerning the Representation
of Mr. Timothy Shea . Document
filed by Timothy Shea.
(Attachments: # (1) Proposed
Order Enclosure - Proposed
Order)(Kalhous, Clara)."
On October 10,
before the October 23
surrender date, Shea's counsel
wrote to Judge Torres asking
her to extend his surrender
date until after his appeal is
completed. The principal issue
raised is not questioning the
juror who was "the parent of a
law student who was being
'mentored' by a member of the
prosecution team."
On October 16 the
US Attorney's Office opposed
Shea's request, saying none of
the issues Shea has raised are
substantial.
On October 20,
Judge Torres denied Shea's
request: "Shea's motion for
bail pending appeal is DENIED.
The Clerk of Court is directed
to terminate the motion at ECF
No. 417. (Signed by Judge
Analisa Torres on 10/20/23)."
Watch this site.
During the trial,
Shea said he would call
Kolfage, who pleaded guilty,
as a witness. The US replied
it would allocute Kolfage as
to his Fifth Amendment
privilege. The US letter says,
"At the end of the trial day
yesterday, defendant Timothy
Shea confirmed on the record
he intends to call
co-defendant Brian Kolfage as
a defense witness." US letter
on Patreon here.
On April 26,
after the AUSA trashed Kolfage
for his web site(s), this:
"KOLFAGE was sentenced to 51
months in prison, and BADOLATO
was sentenced to 36 months in
prison, for their respective
roles in carrying out a scheme
to defraud hundreds of
thousands of donors in
connection with an online
crowdfunding campaign known as
“We Build The Wall” by
soliciting donations using
false statements and then
stealing the resulting
donations."
Back on October
25, 2022 after a defense
opening argument that again
questioned venue or what we're
calling "District-shopping,"
the US again put on the stand
a witness from Synovus Bank.
Inner City Press live
tweeted here:
OK - now in We
Build the Wall re-trial of US
v. Shea, US again puts on
executive of Synovus Bank,
which banked for WBTW and
dealt with Kolfage.
Assistant US
Attorney asks: After you got
the subpoena from the Southern
District of NY, what did you
do?
Billue: I told We
Build the Wall. Then I read
the warning about not
disclosing the info.
Synovus'
Billue: Then I reached
out to Synovus' legal
department, 20 minutes after I
spoke to Rich Kaye. "I full
disclosed my error to the
bank."
A response
back from the bank saying "No
worries." [What did the
Federal Reserve ever do about
Synovus?]
The overall case
is US v. Kolfage et al.,
20-cr-412 (Torres).
***
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