They do say there is no honor among thieves…
After 25 years of marriage, two kids and prison time, the marriage of Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Sandi Jackson is coming to an end.
Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, 53, filed for divorce on Monday from former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson, 51, citing irreconcilable differences. According to The Chicago Tribune, in the Cook County filing, Jesse requests that the couples children, ages 16 and 12, stay with him “subject to Sandi’s exercise of reasonable parenting time.”
While this formal filing took place on Monday, Jackson actually filed paperwork back in July with the intention of filing for divorce — while Sandi was still doing time. Made aware of the paperwork afterward, The Chicago Tribune reported that she filed a request for a divorce last month, but did so in Washington, D.C. where the couple has a home and where Jesse’s supervision terms have required him to stay. She’s asking for sole custody of their two children, as well as child support and alimony. Sandi reportedly doesn’t “have the ability to be fully self-supporting.”
All this filing comes after Sandi’s recent release from a federal prison camp in September. Of course, a federal investigation into the couple found that they were knee-deep in shady dealings, causing them to quit and resign from their political posts in 2012 and 2013.
Jesse was found guilty of fraud. He took $750,000 from his campaign funds and spent the money on luxuries like vacations, furs, watches, celebrity memorabilia and even some mounted elk heads. He ended up serving 22 months of a 30-month sentence. He went to prison first (a staggered sentence) so that Sandi could stay with their children. As for Sandi, she had to serve a one-year sentence for filing false income tax returns related to his theft. She was just shy of completing the entire sentence in West Virginia (the same prison camp Martha Stewart did time in). She started her sentence weeks after Jesse’s release last September.
The couple tied the knot in Chicago on June 1, 1991.