Ex-Illinois congressman sentenced to prison on tax charges

[May 11, 2018]  By Suzannah Gonzales

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former Illinois U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison for failing to file federal income tax returns, according to prosecutors.

Reynolds, 66, was convicted last September on four counts of failing to file a federal return after not filing in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, prosecutors said.

Reynolds will serve four months in prison since he already served two months in custody, prosecutors' spokeswoman Kim Nerheim said by telephone.

The sentencing, before U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, followed Reynolds' previous conviction for sexual assault, child pornography, bank fraud and misusing campaign funds.

Reynolds, a one-time Democratic Party rising star who represented himself during the trial, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a memorandum unsealed this week, Reynolds admitted guilt, pleaded for probation and apologized to Gettleman for wasting the court's time, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Reynolds had faced a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

Prosecutors had argued Reynolds collected $433,000 for consulting work he did in Africa during the four-year period he failed to file tax returns, local media reported. But Reynolds said the money was not income, rather it was for travel and other expenses, and as such, it did not need to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

Former U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds arrives at the Harare Magistrates court, Zimbabwe on February 19, 2014. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo

Reynolds, first elected to Congress in 1992, was indicted in 1994 for having a relationship with a 16-year-old campaign worker and was re-elected that year in his Chicago district without opposition. The case ended with a conviction on sexual assault and child pornography charges in 1995 and Reynolds resigned.

Before his scheduled release from prison in 1997, Reynolds was convicted of bank fraud and misusing campaign funds and sentenced to serve additional time. He was released in 2001.

Reynolds tried politics again but in 2013 lost a bid for the U.S. House of Representatives seat of Jesse Jackson Jr., who had resigned before pleading guilty to fraud charges.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Chris Reese)

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