Sandi and Jesse Jackson Jr. photographed on Aug. 26, 2008 (WBEZ/Creative Commons).

Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins that he has been living off his political campaign funds for years. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit false statements, wire fraud and mail fraud. 

Wilkins asked for Jackson’s plea with his father, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., sitting in the front row of the courtroom. 

“Guilty, your honor,” Jackson said. “I misled the American people.”

From Reuters:

The prosecutors had accused Jackson of shipping a $43,350 men's Rolex watch purchased with campaign funds to his Washington address. He also sent fur capes and parkas purchased with $5,150 in campaign funds from Beverly Hills to the home of an unnamed person, court documents said.

The government had said earlier that Jackson must forfeit tens of thousands of dollars in celebrity memorabilia derived from the alleged crimes, including a $4,600 fedora that once belonged to late pop star Michael Jackson.

Jackson, 47, represented Illinois in the House of Representatives from 1995 until his resignation in November. 

Prosecutors told Reuters they may ask for the maximum prison sentence permitted by law - five years - while Jackson’s defense team said it may argue for four or less. 

From the Chicago Tribune:

Prosecutors said $60,000 was spent on restaurants, nightclubs and lounges; $31,700 on personal airfare; $16,000 on sports clubs and lounges; $17,000 on tobacco shops; $5,800 on alcohol; $14,500 on dry cleaning; $8,000 on grocery stores and $6,000 at drug stores.

In one of the more exotic purchases, Jackson used campaign funds in the spring of 2011 to pay a taxidermist in Montana $7,058 for two mounted elk heads to be shipped to his office in Washington. This was the beginning of an FBI sting, according to court documents.

Sandi, Jackson’s wife and a former Chicago alderman, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to a separate felony charge of filing false tax returns over six years that didn’t report the campaign money as income. 

Jackson sought treatment for bipolar disorder at the Mayo Clinic last year, USA Today reported, after several months of being on medical leave. His sentencing is scheduled for June 28. His wife’s hearing was set for July 1. 

Jackson told a reporter while leaving the courtroom, "Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?"

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on Jesse Jackson Jr. here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.