A Resigned Congressman Pleads Guilty to Charges
Son of Rights Leader May Get Prison Term;
His Wife Is Expected to Plead Guilty, Too

 

By JOSHUA A. STREDIC
Special to the Chronicle

 

WASHINGTON—Resigned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (Dem., Ill.), holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.
Recently resigned Alderman Sandra Jackson, the former congressman’s wife, is also expected to plead guilty to federal charges.
Mrs. Jackson resigned as an alderman shortly before a federal indictment against her husband was handed down.
The former congressman, 47, the son of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., the civil rights leader, faces 46 to 57 months in prison under a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
Before entering the plea to the conspiracy charge, former U.S. Rep. Jackson, 47, told Federal District Judge Robert L. Wilkins:
“I’ve never been more clear in my life” in his decision to plead guilty.
Later, when Judge Wilkins asked if Mr. Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, “I did these things.”
“Sir, for years, I lived in my campaign” and used money from the campaign for personal use, Mr. Jackson later told the judge.
Mr. Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and, at points, an employee brought some tissues to Mr. Jackson’s lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman.
Mr. Jackson told the judge he was waving his right to trial.
“In perfect candor, your honor, I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers’ time or money,” he said.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, and Judge Wilkins is not bound by the plea agreement.
Mr. Jackson is free until then.
The ex-congressman entered the courtroom holding hands with his wife and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed courtroom.
He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table.
Former Alderman Jackson is expected to plead guilty on a charge of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006-2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received.
The former congressman’s father sat in the front row.
Before the hearing started, he wrote notes on a small piece of paper.
When the proceedings started, he sat expressionless and virtually motionless, hands folded.
Ex-Congressman Jackson, wearing a blue shirt and blue-patterned tie and gray suit, answered a series of questions from the judge, mostly in a muffled tone.
When the judge asked if he had consumed any drugs or alcohol in the previous 24 hours, Mr. Jackson said he had a beer Tuesday night.
Mr. Jackson used campaign money to buy items, including a $43,350 gold-plated men’s Rolex watch and $9,587 worth of children’s furniture, according to court papers.
His wife spent $5,150 on fur capes and parkas, court documents said.
Prosecutors said that, upon conviction, Mr. Jackson must forfeit $750,000, plus tens of thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia items and furs.
As the proceedings wound up, Mr. Jackson sat at the defense table and shook his head in what looked like an expression of disbelief.
After the hearing was adjourned, he walked over to his wife, grabbed her hand, and then was greeted by his father.
Mr. Jackson Jr. patted his father on the back a few times.
“Tell everybody back home I’m sorry I let them down, O.K.?,” the former congressman told Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet, according to her Tweet from the scene.
The charge against Mrs. Jackson carries a maximum of three years in prison.
However, one of her lawyers, Tom Kirsch, said the plea agreement “does not contemplate a sentence of that length.”
Mrs. Jackson resigned as an alderman last month during the federal investigation.
As the hearing for her husband got underway Wednesday, newly-filed court papers disclosed that the judge had offered to disqualify himself from handling the cases against the couple.
As a Harvard University law school student, Mr. Wilkins said he had supported the presidential campaign of the ex-congressman’s father, and that, as an attorney in 1999, Mr. Wilkins had been a guest on a show hosted by Rev. Jackson.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the couple said they were willing to proceed with the cases with Judge Wilkins presiding.
Judicial ethics require that a judge disqualify himself if his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.