In a shocking political scandal federal prosecutors have filed criminal conspiracy charges against Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Today, Feb. 15, 2013, Stephanie Condon has reported for CBS News, Jesse Jackson Jr. formally charged with conspiracy. Federal prosecutors have today formally filed criminal charges against former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. for misusing $750,000 in campaign funds in order to purchase everything from an expensive watch to thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia and fur capes for his wife.
In paperwork for this case filed this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Jackson has been charged with one count of conspiracy. The charges claim that between August 2005 and July 2012, Jackson directed funds from his campaign in order to pay personal credit card bills which totaled $582,773. Furthermore, the charges have accused him of making direct, personal purchases from his campaign account in the amount of $57,793. The charges also allege that Jackson provided a co-conspirator with $112,150 for transactions that personally benefited him.
ABC News has reported on an Associated Press story, Jesse Jackson Jr., Wife Agree to Plead Guilty. On Friday former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife agreed to plead guilty to federal charges growing out of what prosecutors said was a scheme to use $750,000 in campaign funds for lavish personal expenses. Federal prosecutors have filed one charge of conspiracy against the former Chicago congressman and have also charged his ex-alderman wife, Sandra, with one count of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 which knowingly understated the income the couple received. Together the couple has agreed to plead guilty in deals with federal prosecutors.
