Hall’s efforts to attract followers by posing as various Trump relatives was detailed in depth by the Times in December. Describing himself as a bisexual Trump supporter, he told the Times that he started the fake accounts after struggling to achieve his dream of becoming a conservative radio host, toiling instead as a sandwich maker and doing food delivery in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

He said he hit on a winning formula: posing as Trump’s relatives who didn’t have Twitter accounts, and then amassing followings by spreading false claims. The account he set up in Barron Trump’s name, for instance, tweeted that “COVID is a scam” and “Q is real,” the Times reported, a reference to QAnon, the extremist ideology.

Many of the accounts drew wide followings — including a fake account for Trump’s sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau, that was eventually retweeted by the former president himself. In all, Hall amassed more than 100,000 followers on various accounts, the FBI said in court documents.

He eventually used that social media clout to drive followers to donate to a group he supposedly ran called Gay Voices for Trump, with the fake Robert Trump profile and others urging supporters to give money to the group.