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Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said on Tuesday that he and his estranged wife are $1.8 million in debt. Speaking to reporters following a divorce case hearing in Chicago, Jackson blamed legal bills from the two divorce cases in two separate cities with his wife Sandi Jackson and the legal costs related to his federal criminal prosecution for misuse of campaign funds. "Growing out of the criminal case and now growing out of the divorce, we're at based on our calculations, $1.8 million in debt," he said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "That's the reality, lawyers that we owe

Jackson, 51, who got out of federal prison in 2015 after pleading guilty to looting his campaign fund, receives about $100,000 a year in tax-free workers' compensation benefits because he has bipolar disorder and depression, the Tribune reported. Jackson also receives about $38,400 a year in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, which fall under the purview of the Social Security Administration. Jackson's conditions have been worsened by his contentious divorce from former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, according to his Chicago divorce attorney, Barry Schatz, who could not explain how Jackson's job as a congressman might have contributed to his issues.

Records from former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s divorce case show how he has been able to collect hefty benefit checks from the federal government after serving time in prison for looting hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign fund. Jackson, 51, receives about $138,400 a year — more than he made as a freshman congressman in 1995. Most of that — about $100,000 — is workers' compensation and tax-free, according to Chicago attorney Barry Schatz, who is representing Jackson in his divorce proceeding.

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife Sandi Jackson leave the federal court house after being sentenced to prison, August 14, 2013 in Washington, DC. Jackson was sentenced to 30 months in prison for using $750, 000 in campaign money to pay for living expenses and luxury items. His wife received a 12-month prison term. Jesse Jackson Jr. urged President Barack Obama Thursday to pardon millions of former prison inmates, a group that would include Jackson and his wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson. In his open letter to the president, which Jackson posted to his Facebook page early...

**SNIP** So Thursday, the FEC sent Jackson’s campaign committee its eighth consecutive failure-to-file notice. It must file its end-of-the year report for 2014 or face a penalty. (Perhaps that threat rings a bit hollow when you’re already in jail?) In August 2014, the FEC fined Jackson for nearly $18,000 for not filing reports in 2013, according to the Chicago Tribune. He must formally terminate his committee to get the FEC off his back, but his treasurer quit in September 2013, and so it seems there’s no person responsible for doing the necessary paperwork. Since his last report in November 2012,...

WASHINGTON -- Congressman-turned-convicted-felon Jesse Jackson Jr. will sell his town house in the nation’s capital to help pay a $750,000 forfeiture he owes, according to a court filing today. Jackson, 48, a Chicago Democrat who quit Congress last November, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Aug. 14 after using $750,000 in campaign cash on a Rolex watch, furs, vacations, celebrity memorabilia, mounted elk heads and other whims. He has not yet reported to prison, but is expected to do so shortly, a federal Bureau of Prisons official said.

Ex-congressman Jackson is eligible to receive $8,700 dollars per month in disability pay due to his bipolar condition and could receive a partial federal pension of $45,000 per year once he reaches 65. While on the city council, Sandi Jackson had automatic pension contributions of more than $50,000 withdrawn from her pay, even though she chose not to be a member of the city pension fund.

Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison Wednesday, the closing chapter in the story of a pol who rapidly ascended the political ladder only to fall quickly and dramatically from public grace. His story is a reminder of how quickly everything can come crashing down in politics. And the bigger you are, the harder you fall. It wasn’t that long ago that the political world was abuzz with chatter about the heights that Jackson might reach in his career. He is, after all, the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights icon. And...

Ex-Congressman Apologizes to Family for Misusing Campaign Funds A judge on Wednesday sentenced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to 2½ years in prison for treating his campaign fund like a "personal piggy bank"—siphoning off $750,000 over the years to pay for personal items like spa treatments and televisions. Mr. Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, a former Chicago alderman, was sentenced to a year in prison for her role in the scheme. The former congressman, who had represented a Chicago district for more than a decade, resigned last year amid the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of his finances. He pleaded guilty...

WASHINGTON — The sentencings of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and his wife, Sandi, were postponed Monday, with no new date set. The South Side Democrats had been scheduled to learn their fates Wednesday, until the delay was announced by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is not related to the pair. A court spokesman said neither the prosecution nor defense asked for the postponement. "The matter was rescheduled to accommodate the court's schedule and workload — neither side requested a continuance," said Jenna Gatski, a spokeswoman for the U.S. District Court.

A day after federal prosecutors announced they will ask a judge to send his son, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., to prison for four years and his daughter-in-law, former Ald. Sandi Jackson, for 18 months, the Rev. Jesse Jackson appeared at Rainbow PUSH on Saturday but said nothing about the prison future that may await them. But others attending the regular “Saturday morning forum” at Rainbow PUSH headquarters on the South Side said they worry about the Jacksons’ two children, ages 9 and 13. “I think it’s really unfortunate that both parents are going to be without their children...

Already looking at a possible prison term, former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. could face new trouble over his apparent failure to file a financial disclosure report that is required when lawmakers leave the House. Meantime, his campaign has been warned by the Federal Election Commission about missing recent deadlines for public reports. Jackson will be sentenced July 1 for misusing more than $750,000 in campaign cash to buy luxury goods and other items. He resigned last Nov. 21 and later pleaded guilty to a felony. Under the federal Ethics in Government Act, representatives who leave office — on their own...

Former Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, whose campaign received a $2 million boost from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, easily captured Tuesday’s special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. The win for the Matteson Democrat was widely expected as the Chicago-area district, which Jackson represented from 1995 until late last year, has been a Democratic stronghold for roughly six decades. Kelly emerged from a crowded field in the February primary by focusing heavily on anti-gun efforts and was helped by ads from Bloomberg’s super PAC. Kelly, 56, vowed to become a leader in the federal fight...

Democrat Robin Kelly claimed victory tonight in a low-turnout contest to decide the successor to former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in a 2nd Congressional District with a history of scandal-plagued representation. With more than two-thirds percent of precincts counted, the former state lawmaker had about 77 percent of the vote to about 16 percent for Republican Paul McKinley, an unemployed political activist and ex-convict. The rest of the vote went to a Green Party candidate and three independent candidates who made the special general election ballot.

The Jackson file... Ensconced in the safety of their home in Washington, D.C., former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, former Ald. Sandi Jackson, are struggling to make ends meet before their sentencing in June. To wit: The shattered couple, who recently pleaded guilty to felonies, could lose their law licenses. They are desperately trying to pay the bills and figure out a financial plan for their two children. Although writing a memoir is on the table if Jackson Jr. can find a publisher (or publish it himself), Sneed is told their major financial support now is Triple J’s...

After reading about the money he stole, the expensive swag he bought with campaign funds, and the constituents he ultimately betrayed, it’s hard to feel anything but contempt for disgraced celebrity son and former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. But apparently not everyone agrees with me. Indeed, the folks over at ‘Morning Joe’ are -- wait for it -- saddened by his downfall (via Jazz Shaw):

Former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal conspiracy charges of using campaign funds to purchase personal and luxury items, bringing what’s likely a grim end to a fast-rising political career. Jackson was charged Friday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and making false statements. He is accused by prosecutors of spending $750,000 in campaign funds for personal use. Prosecutors also say that Jackson failed to report $28,000 in gifts he received. In U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Jackson told Judge Robert Wilkins that he was guilty of the charges against...

**SNIP** Ask how he could humiliate not one but three generations of his globally known family — his famous father and his young children included. No, Jesse Jackson Jr. wouldn't be the first to purposefully slow-walk that yearslong walk. Not the first to delight in secret luxuries and expensive acquisitions along a reliable, efficient path to the self-destruction of his career and his reputation. Imagine, though, the depth of conniving, or self-delusion, or entitlement, or sheer audacious recklessness, that the federal accusations against Jackson would have required of him. What the feds on Friday suggested had happened here is a...

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged in federal court Friday with conspiring to use campaign funds for personal use -- in an alleged $750,000 spending spree that included purchases of a gold-plated Rolex and pricey children's furniture. It had been expected that a plea agreement would be entered into court Friday, but that agreement is apparently still pending. Instead, federal prosecutors charged Jackson Friday with conspiracy. Prosecutors separately charged his wife Sandi with filing false federal tax returns, but according to her attorney she has reached a plea agreement. In a statement, the former Illinois Democratic congressman said he...

An attorney for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s wife says she signed a plea deal with federal prosecutors related to accusations her husband misused campaign funds. Tom Kirsch tells The Associated Press former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson agreed to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud.