More Chicago news. NBC Chicago is reporting that Jesse Jackson, Jr. has signed a plea deal in a corruption charge:
It’s been nearly three months since Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress, but now NBC News confirms that Jackson has signed papers in a plea deal within the past several days.
Jackson’s case is being handled by the US Attorney’s office in Washington DC. While no public announcement is expected today, those with knowledge of the investigation believe the loose ends now deal with Jackson’s wife, former Alderman Sandi Jackson, and whether or not she is ultimately charged.
Under the terms of the deal Jackson signed, he pleads guilty and his fate – as to jail time – would be in the hands of a federal judge, not yet assigned.
He would repay the government hundreds of thousands of dollars – for items like the $40,000 Rolex watch, travel expenses for a woman he described as a “social acquaintance†and furniture purchased for his home.
I think it’s terribly, terribly sad. Here was a man who really was on top of the world. His seat in Congress was, essentially, a job for life complete with a platform for national influence. Like so many he couldn’t resist the extra, illegal perks of the job.
I’m not surprised at the corruption but I am a bit surprised at the speed of the plea deal. I would have thought he had the makings of a diminished capacity defense.
Next in line: his wife.
I don’t see what’s so sad about it. He road the connections of his father to power, fame and wealth (connections unavailable to most of us) and then it turned out he was nothing but a thief looking to live it up at the expense of others. Here’s hoping he and his wife have a REALLY good time in jail. That’s one down, abut 537 to go.
Which came first, his mental incapacities or the spectre of getting caught?
More to the point could a good defense attorney convince a jury that the incapacity came first?
As an aside I think there’s a pretty good case that diminished capacity is the norm in the U. S. Congress these days.
Its sad in that its just human tragedy, as a concept or general proposition. But ice is correct, why shed a tear for those who clearly were crooks and people feeding at the trough? Everything that is wrong with politics and an overly influential government.
Too bad they could never get his no good shakedown artist dad.
As a more technical matter, I don’t whether diminished capacity would be a defense to the crimes here; sometimes its only a factor in reducing the sentence and isn’t relevant to guilt.