Florida woman sentenced to prison for stolen Ashley Biden diary scheme

A federal judge in New York has sentenced a Florida woman to one month in prison for her role in a scheme to sell the stolen diary of Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden.

Aimee Harris, 41, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property. On Tuesday, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan called Harris's conduct "despicable and consequently very serious," according to the New York Times.

In addition to the one-month prison term, which Harris is expected to begin in July, Swain sentenced her to three years of probation, three months of home confinement, and ordered her to return the $20,000 she received for selling the diary.

Prosecutors said Harris and her co-defendant, Robert Kurlander, found Ashley Biden's diary and other belongings in a private residence in Florida weeks before the 2020 presidential election. They attempted to sell the materials to Donald Trump's presidential campaign but were rebuffed and told to contact the FBI.

Instead, Harris and Kurlander sold the diary to a conservative group identified as Project Veritas for $40,000. The group ultimately did not publish the diary's contents but is facing a federal investigation and FBI raids related to the matter.

While both defendants apologized, prosecutors sought a harsher sentence for Harris, accusing her of "abusing the administration of justice" through delays and claims of health issues and childcare problems. Kurlander, 60, has cooperated with investigators and has not yet been sentenced.

In a statement to the court, Ashley Biden described the theft of her diary as "one of the most heinous forms of bullying." While unverified claims about President Biden emerged from alleged diary pages published elsewhere, the case drew scrutiny due to the diary's personal nature.