Imagine getting a bill for $750,000 from the federal government. Former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. got one Thursday, in the form of a forfeiture order from the United States District Court, stemming from the criminal conviction for which he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison last week.
Not only must Jackson come up with $750,000 in cash, which he told the court last week he will be paying in full, but he also must part with dozens of items, some of them almost comical in nature, which prosecutors said were purchased with his ill-gotten gains.
That means more than $10,000 worth of Bruce Lee memorabilia must be turned over immediately to the federal government, along with a $5,000 football signed by American presidents. He will have to fork over Martin Luther King memorabilia valued at more than $15,000, as well as more than $18,000 in Michael Jackson souvenirs (including two of the King of Pop’s famous hats). There’s a $4,000 guitar signed by Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen, Jim Hendrix memorabilia valued at $2,775, and Malcolm X souvenirs priced at $2,200. Also furs, valued at $5,000.
According to the US Attorney’s office in Washington, Jackson has turned over 13 items so far, including nine items of Bruce Lee and Michael Jackson memorabilia, a mink cashmere cape, a mink reversible parka, a black and red cashmere cape, and a black fox reversible jacket.
He has indicated he hopes to satisfy the money judgment in total by the time he begins serving his prison sentence.
As for what happens to the things Jackson turns over, they go to the US Marshal’s service, which typically holds periodic auctions of ill-gotten property.
Information about the U.S. Marshals Service’s auctions of forfeited items can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov/assets/sales.htm.
Photo Credit: AP