A Florida woman was sentenced to one month in prison and three months of house arrest after being found guilty of stealing the personal diary of Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, and selling it to a conservative media outlet for tens of thousands of dollars.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York handed down the sentence against Aimee Harris, 41, this Tuesday after using personal notes, tax records and family photographs contained in the diary of the president's daughter to obtain considerable financial gains.
Swain called Harris' actions "despicable and serious." In addition to the prison time, he ordered the woman to return the money obtained from the journal's sale and imposed three years of probation. He also chastised Harris for her failure to appear at numerous court dates.
Harris pleaded guilty to conspiracy in August 2022 and admitted receiving $20,000 of the $40,000 the conservative group Project Veritas paid for Ashley Biden's personal items. The other $20,000 was taken by the co-defendant, Robert Kurlander, by his own admission.
During the trial, a visibly shaken Harris apologized for allowing Ashley Biden's personal writings to become public. Her defense attorney, Anthony Cecutti, argued that his client did not deserve prison, citing her traumatic life and efforts to care for her children. However, the final ruling ruled that Harris must report to a federal prison in Florida in July.
Harris reportedly took the diary from the Delray Beach, Florida residence where Biden believed her belongings were safe after living there briefly in 2020. In addition to the diary, Harris also took a digital storage card, books, clothing, luggage and other items in hopes of profit.
During the court process, the judge noted that Harris and Kurlander attempted to sell Ashley Biden's belongings to then-President Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign. However, the campaign refused and recommended that they hand over the material to the FBI.
