Politics
Jesse Jackson Jr. Gets Furlough for Grandmother’s Funeral
In this Aug. 14, 2013, file photo, former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., leaves federal court in Washington after being sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for misusing $750,000 in campaign funds. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has approved a request from Jesse Jackson Jr. for a four-day furlough from home detention in Washington to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Chicago Tribune reports (http://trib.in/1Ofnwmn) that the furlough will start Friday. Helen Burns Jackson died Monday at age 92. She is the mother of Jackson’s father, civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Jesse Jackson Jr. is a former Democratic congressman from Chicago. The 50-year-old was given a 30-month prison term in 2013 for illegally spending $750,000 in campaign money.
He is scheduled to be released from Bureau of Prisons’ custody on Sept. 20. He’ll then serve three years of probation.
Jackson also received a four-day furlough to visit his grandmother when she was sick in August.
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This story has been corrected to show that Jackson is on home detention in Washington, not Baltimore.
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