Jesse L. Jackson Jr., the namesake of the famed civil rights leader and once-promising Illinois congressman, was sentenced to 2
1 /
2
years in prison Wednesday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars
in campaign money to fund an extravagant lifestyle over many years.
In an emotional hearing in federal court in the District, Jackson
said he failed to separate his personal life from his political
activities and “could not have been more wrong.”
Jesse_Jackson_Jr_Sentencing
Jackson, 48, and his wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson,
pleaded guilty in February
to using about $750,000 in campaign funds to pay for high-end items,
such as fur wraps and a gold-plated Rolex watch, in addition to
private-school tuition and trips to Costco.
“I misled the American people, I misled the House of
Representatives,” Jackson said as he dabbed his eyes with a pile of
tissues. “I was wrong and I do not fault anyone.”
He asked to serve his term in Alabama, “far away from everybody for awhile.”
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson (no relation) said the former
congressman and his wife used his campaign funds as a “personal piggy
bank.”
“There may be blurred lines for Congress to follow when their lives
are political, this case did not come near those areas,” she said after a
more than three-hour hearing. “This was a knowing, organized joint
misconduct that was repeated over many years.”
The judge also ordered Jackson to perform 500 hours of community
service that is unrelated to politics. She sentenced Sandra Jackson to
one year in prison.
Prosecutors said in court papers that Jesse Jackson Jr. was driven by
“greed and entitlement,” and they asked the judge to sentence him to a
prison term of four years, which falls on the lower end of federal
guidelines.
In court Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves called
Jackson’s crimes “staggering,” in part because the couple had sufficient
independent financial resources, earning nearly $350,000 in 2011.
“These were extreme abuses that strike at the integrity of the campaign finance system,” Graves said.
The defense team asked for a term of less than four years, saying
that a shorter term is critical to Jackson’s mental health and that a
lengthy sentence would be “devastating” to the couple’s two children –
ages 13 and 9.
“His public fall from grace has already made an example of him,
warning other politicians and elected officials of the dangers of
personal use of campaign funds,” Jackson’s attorneys wrote in their
sentencing memos.
The
downfall of the Illinois Democrat
began when he was implicated in allegations that then-Gov. Rod
Blagojevich (D) tried to sell to the highest bidder an interim
appointment to the Senate seat vacated by president-elect Barack Obama.
Jackson was not charged, but prosecutors investigated allegations that
he directed his fundraiser to bring in millions for the governor.
Jackson’s personal life was unraveling, too. Before resigning from
the House in mid-November, he disappeared from Washington for several
weeks without explanation. He later announced that he was being treated
for depression and released a statement saying he suffered from bipolar
disorder.
In heavily redacted court documents, Jackson’s attorneys asked for
some leniency because of his mental health and said his condition could
worsen “under the stress of incarceration.”
The defense team said Jackson should be judged for his 17-year career
in Congress and record of advocating for some of Chicago’s poorest
residents. Nearly a dozen members of Congress wrote letters on his
behalf, as did some constituents who said Jackson had intervened to help
them.
The courthouse was also inundated with dozens of letters from
Chicago-area residents who urged the judge to send a strong message
against public corruption.
Prosecutors said Jackson should not get credit for doing his job as a
public servant. The U.S. attorney’s office also took issue with what
they described as limited information from Jackson’s doctors about why
he could not receive the treatment he needs while incarcerated.
Jackson “provided no evidence that any causal link exists between his
mental health condition and his criminal conduct,” prosecutors said.
The plea agreement Jackson signed this year outlined the extent to
which the couple did not distinguish between their personal and
political finances. The campaign’s office was in Jackson’s basement. His
wife, a former Chicago alderman, was his campaign manager.
The Jacksons admitted using campaign credit cards to make
approximately 3,100 personal purchases over seven years starting in
August 2005. Among the expenses: a $466 dinner at the Mandarin
Oriental’s CityZen restaurant; $10,000 for multiple flat-screen TVs and
DVD players from Best Buy; and $2,300 in transportation services at
Disney World.
The Jacksons also spent campaign money on appliances for their
Chicago home, including a washer, dryer and refrigerator, and on
renovations at their home near Dupont Circle.
In letters to the judge, Jackson’s parents tried to provide insight
into their son’s conduct. His father, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.,
suggested that his son might have begun to “foil his own ambitions”
around the time of his stomach weight-loss surgery in 2004.
His mother, Jacqueline Jackson, wrote: “Growing up in the shadow of
his father, Jesse Jr. has always tried desperately to live up to the
expectations we have had for him. I think perhaps too hard, he has
tried.” (U REPORTS)
