TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jesse Jackson's son leaves federal prison for halfway house
Former U
Change Size
F
ormer U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of a prominent civil rights activist, was released from an Alabama federal prison early Thursday, two years after pleading guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items, his father said.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson described his son's release from the minimum security federal prison camp at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, as a "joyous reunion" and said the younger Jackson was doing "very well."
Jackson, a 50-year-old Illinois Democrat, began his sentence on Nov. 1, 2013. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons lists his release date as Sept. 20, 2015.
Jackson Sr. later said that his son will be living in Washington at a transitional facility known as a halfway house for six months.
Jackson Jr. arrived at Volunteers of America halfway house in Baltimore on Thursday evening. Under U.S. Bureau of Prisons policy, Jackson could serve the remainder of his 2 1/2-year term under home confinement.
Jackson served in Congress from 1995 until he resigned in November 2012.
Jackson's wife, Sandra Jackson, a former Chicago alderman, was sentenced to a year in prison for filing false joint federal income tax returns. She must serve her term after her husband completes his sentence.
According to court documents, the Jacksons spent campaign money on TV's, restaurant dinners, an expensive watch and other costly personal items. When Jackson was sentenced the judge scolded him for using the money as a "piggy bank." (***)
