A Manhattan grand jury indicted Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, for his alleged role in funneling a $250,000 salary to the head of a nonprofit organization that aimed to build a wall on the U.S. southern border, after promising all the proceeds would go directly toward its construction.

Bannon pleaded not guilty to two counts of money laundering in the second degree, two counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, one count of scheming to defraud in the first degree, and one count of conspiracy in the fifth degree.

The charges are not bail eligible. But he was required to surrender his passports.

Bannon's lawyer is David Schoen, a solo practitioner who focuses primarily on complex civil and criminal cases.

The case was continued to Oct. 4.

Bannon was chairman of the advisory board for We Build the Wall Inc., a nonprofit organization with the goal of building a wall between the United States and Mexico.

"Today is an important day for justice to our justice system and our continued efforts to uphold the law," New York Attorney General Letitia James said during a news conference.

"Regular, everyday Americans play by these rules, and yet too often, the powerful political interests—they ignore these rules," James said. "They think that they are above the law and the most egregious of them take advantage of hardworking Americans in the process, and Steve Bannon stands out as a perfect example of this blatant inequality."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. told reporters Bannon repeatedly pledged that "not a penny" of the donations would be used for purposes other than building the wall.

Bragg said at least $140,000 was laundered by Bannon in a series of payments to We Build the Wall's president throughout 2019.

Tens of thousands of dollars from donor proceeds were transferred to a nonprofit organization Bannon controls, which then paid into the president's salary, in direct contradiction to Bannon's promises, Bragg said.

The indictment said We Build the Wall allegedly transferred the money to various third-party entities. The investigation is ongoing, Bragg said.

The overall yearlong fundraising scheme netted more than $15 million from thousands of donors across the country, based on false pretenses, Bragg said. There are hundreds of alleged victims in Manhattan.

Bannon turned himself in on Thursday shortly after 9 a.m.

Bannon, 68, called the charge a politically motivated persecution as he entered the Manhattan District Attorney's Office Thursday morning.

"This is an irony," Bannon said, the Associated Press reported.

"On the very day the mayor of this city has a delegation down on the border, they are persecuting people here, that try to stop them at the border," he said, referring to a recent trip by New York City officials to Texas.

"This is all about 60 days from the day," he said, referring to the upcoming national election in November.