Washington, Aug 14 (EFE).- Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months behind bars for misappropriation of funds from his election campaigns, while his wife Sandra was sentenced to 12 months for a related crime.
"I take responsibility for my actions and am very sorry for what I've done," Jackson, 48, said at the sentencing hearing before federal Judge Amy B. Jackson.
The former congressman pleaded guilty in February to having spent some $750,000 of his campaign funds to buy items for his personal use such as a $43,500 Rolex wristwatch and $26,700 worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
Sandra Jackson, a former Chicago alderman, appeared with her husband at the hearing and was sentenced to a year in prison on a related charge.
The son of veteran civil rights activist Jesse Jackson last year gave up his seat in Congress for medical reasons, but he was reelected in November after which he resigned when it became clear that the federal government was preparing a case against him.
Jackson's attorney, Reid Weingarter, said Wednesday that his client suffers from bipolar disorder and asked the court to take that into account and reduce his sentence to 18 months.
