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		</div><p>A former aide to Nigel Farage has been jailed for eight months in the US after pleading guilty to fraud.</p>
<p>George Cottrell, 23, known as George Cotrel in federal court documents, has been in custody since his arrest in Chicago in July.</p>
<p>He pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud on December 19 after admitting attempting to defraud criminals on the &#8220;dark web&#8221; by masquerading as a money launderer.</p>
<p>At a district court in Phoenix, Arizona, judge Diane Humetewa sentenced Cottrell to eight months and ordered him to pay $30,000 (€28,400).</p>
<p>Cottrell will receive credit for time served dating back to his arrest on July 22, a Department of Justice spokesman said.</p>
<p>The former UKIP aide was involved in a scheme to steal money by posing as a professional money launderer on the &#8220;dark web&#8221;, court documents show.</p>
<p>Undercover agents, claiming to be drug dealers with large amounts of cash to conceal, began communicating with Cottrell in March 2014 after responding to an advert for money laundering services.</p>
<p>Cottrell, calling himself &#8220;Bill&#8221;, used encrypted instant messages to propose ways he could &#8220;disguise their drug profits, evade federal income taxes, and promote the continuation of their drug business&#8221;, court documents show.</p>
<p>He met the agents in Las Vegas in April 2014 where he told them to send $20,000 to his &#8220;associate in Colorado&#8221;, who would convert the cash to Bitcoin, a type of digital currency.</p>
<p>But the associate &#8211; who was prosecuted for an unrelated matter in Colorado &#8211; stole the money instead of passing it along to Cottrell, according to court documents.</p>
<p>Cottrell was arrested as he and Mr Farage travelled back to Britain following a trip to the US.</p>
<p>Mr Farage later distanced himself from his ex-aide and described him as &#8220;a volunteer&#8221;.<br />
The politician told ITV&#8217;s Good Morning Britain shortly after Cottrell&#8217;s arrest: <i>&#8220;Listen, I can&#8217;t be responsible for what everyone around me does.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>The US District Attorney&#8217;s Office said there was no evidence to show Cottrell engaged in the money laundering scheme but he showed &#8220;a clear intent and significant effort &#8230; to use his knowledge and financial sector experience to engage in, and to conceal, criminal activity&#8221;.</p>
<p>Cottrell&#8217;s uncle, Lord Hesketh, a former hereditary peer, worked for former prime minister Margaret Thatcher before losing his seat in the Lords in 1999 as a result of the House of Lords Act. He later defected to UKIP.</p>
<p>Cottrell&#8217;s mother, Fiona Cottrell, is the daughter of another peer.</p>
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