Jesse Jackson Jr. -- the namesake of famed civil rights leader and once-promising Illinois congressman -- was sentenced to two and one-half years in prison today (August 14, 2013) for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money to fund an extravagant lifestyle over many years, according to the Washington Post website.
Jackson, 48, and his wife Sandra Stevens Jackson, pleaded guilty last 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.
"I misled the American people, I misled the House of Representatives," Jackson said in court today, as he dabbed his eyes with a pile of tissues. "I was wrong and I do not fault anyone."
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." She sentenced Sandra Jackson to one year in prison.
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