WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandra, learn their fates today when a federal judge sentences the one-time power couple for misusing $750,000 in campaign money on everything from a gold-plated Rolex watch and mink capes to vacations and mounted elk heads.
The 48-year-old son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson is expected to step before the judge at the hearing to make a statement, a moment defendants typically use to apologize or ask for mercy. An emotional Jackson held back tears earlier this year when he entered a guilty plea to conspiring to defraud his campaign.
Citing the brazenness of his illegal spending, prosecutors are recommending a four-year prison term for the Chicago Democratic once seen as a possible candidate for U.S. president. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson — who is not related to the defendants — could give him as little as probation or impose the maximum fiveyear prison term.
Sandra Jackson, 49, a former Chicago alderman, pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns, and prosecutors are seeking 18-month sentence for her crimes. But as a concession, they have asked that the couple’s sentences be staggered so one Jackson would be free to care for their two children while the other is behind bars.
In letters to the court prior to today’s sentencing in Washington, the former congressman’s family urged the judge to go easy on him, blaming much of his bad behavior on his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
“I appeal to you for mercy,” Jackson’s father wrote in one letter. “Jesse Jr. is an example as a teacher and counselor who will be better served under supervision and probation.”
Jackson’s mom, Jacqueline Jackson, describes becoming aware of her son’s unraveling a year ago, just before he disappeared from public view. Months later, he resigned his House seat.
“(I) found my son grossly underweight and in poor health,” she writes. “When I took him to his Capitol Hill office to prepare for (a) vote, the office was in total disarray, which was most unusual for my son.”
But prosecutors dismiss the notion that Jackson’s bipolar disorder explains his misdeeds.
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