Ex-Congressman Jesse Jackson Junior and his wife, Sandi, are both pleading guilty to federal criminal charges Wednesday. As IPR’s Alex Keefe reports, the government also released new details in the case.
Both Jacksons were tearful as they entered their pleas before a federal judge in Washington, D-C. Jackson Junior faced a single conspiracy charge in his scheme to illegally spend more than 750-thousand dollars in campaign cash. Sandi Jackson, a former Chicago alderman, faced a single charge of tax fraud.
Reid Weingarten is a lawyer for the ex-Congressman. He says “a man that talented, a man that devoted to public service, a man who has done so much for so many, has another day. There will be another chapter in Jesse Jackson’s life.”
New documents show the Jacksons came to rely on the scheme to uphold a profligate lifestyle.
They bought fur coats and a $43,000 Rolex . But they also used campaign money for toilet paper and children’s vitamins.Jackson Junior is set to be sentenced in late June, with Sandi Jackson’s sentencing a couple of days later.