Jacksons To Sell D.C. Home To Help Pay Fine; Asset Auction Canceled
Updated 10/25/13 - 11:27 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Convicted former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has already paid a significant portion of his $750,000 fine, and will sell his home in Washington, D.C., to help pay off the rest.
Back in August, Jackson and his wife, Sandi, said they needed time to figure out how to come up with money for the fine.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports that has now been done, and Jackson Jr. is hoping to report to prison in North Carolina as early as next week.
After he completes his 30-month term, Sandi will then do her one-year term in federal prison.
After he was sentenced in August, Jackson Jr. said he "manned up" and accepted responsibility for essentially using his congressional campaign fund as a personal expense account. Sandi Jackson was also found to be complicit in the scheme to fund their lavish lifestyle with campaign cash.
In the two months since that time, the Jacksons have negotiated a payment schedule, details of which were included in a filing with the federal court in D.C. on Friday.
According to court documents, the Jacksons have agreed to send the government $200,000 by Nov. 1, after liquidating an account with the H Beck securities firm. The other $550,000 is due June 1, 2014.
The agreement calls for part of the remaining fine be paid by the sale of the family's DuPont Circle home in Washington. The rest will come from loans or outright gifts from friends or family members.
In addition, an auction of items seized from the Jacksons -- including furs, celebrity memorabilia, and other luxury items -- has been canceled, due to concerns some of the collectibles are not authentic.
"Because of concerns about the authenticity of some of the items seized, the auction was canceled. The parties agree that none of the items seized will be sold, and the defendant will not receive credit towards his forfeiture money judgment for any of the seized items," court documents state.
The U.S. Marshals Service had begun auctioning off a dozen items seized from the Jacksons last month, but halted the auction after questions were raised about the authenticity of a guitar purportedly signed by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen.
It's unclear what will be done with those items, but they will no longer be sold to help pay off the Jacksons' fine.
The agreement on that $750,000 judgment could pave the way for Jackson Jr. to report to the Butner N.C., correctional complex sometime after Nov 1. The prison there has a low-security facility and a medical center.
The medical complex was a key factor in determining where Jackson would serve his time. He is still suffering from the bi-polar disorder that many believe explained his uncontrolled spending.
A source close to the Jacksons say Jesse Jackson would prefer to report to prison as soon as next week, though that could be delayed depending on what happens at a court hearing in Washington on Friday.
