30 months prison for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.


August 14, 2013 at 1:33p.m.

30 months prison for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced to two and a half years in prison today after pleading guilty to scheming to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. Jackson, the 48-year-old son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, had been a Democratic congressman from Illinois from 1995 until he resigned last November. In an emotional speech to the judge during which he got choked up and used tissues to blow his nose, he apologized and said he wanted to “take responsibility for my actions.”