Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to defrauding donors in a fundraising effort to build a wall along the southern US border in a deal that allowed him to avoid prison.

Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to duping donors who gave money to a private effort to build a wall along the U.S. southern border — a case the conservative strategist has decried as a “political persecution.

Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon is expected in a Manhattan court on Tuesday following discussions between his lawyers and prosecutors over a possible plea deal to resolve a criminal case over his crowdfunding campaign for the U.