Jackson Jr., wife will plead guilty

WASHINGTON – In a spectacular fall from political prominence, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife agreed Friday 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, including a $43,000 gold watch and furs.

Federal prosecutors filed one charge of conspiracy against the former Chicago congressman and charged his ex-alderman wife, Sandra, with one count of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received. Both agreed to plead guilty in deals with federal prosecutors.

Both face maximum penalties of several years in prison; he also faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and forfeitures.

The son of a famed civil rights leader, Jackson, a Democrat, entered Congress in 1995 and resigned last November. Sandi, as she’s known, was a Chicago alderman, but resigned last month amid the federal investigation.

Jackson used campaign money to buy such things as a $43,350 gold-plated, men’s Rolex watch and $9,587.64 of children’s furniture, according to court papers filed in the case. His wife spent $5,150 on fur capes and parkas, the document said.

“I offer no excuses for my conduct, and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made,” the ex-congressman said in a written statement released by his lawyers.