Sandi Jackson Starts Sentence in Prison that Once Housed Martha Stewart

Norman Parish | As of Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, who pleaded guilty to filing false income tax returns, started her one-year sentence in a federal prison camp in West Virginia, federal officials said.

Jackson, 52, reported last week to the minimum-security camp in Alderson, which held in the past celebrities Martha Stewart and Billie Holiday.

The prison, which has 1,032 female offenders, was nicknamed Camp Cupcake during celebrity cook Stewart’s stay.  Stewart complained on her website about the food at the camp.

“I have had time to think, time to write, time to exercise, time to not eat the bad food, and time to walk and contemplate the future,” Stewart said while incarcerated.

Jackson and her husband, Jesse Jackson Jr., a former Congressman, both pleaded guilty two years ago to charges related to $750,000 in spending of his campaign money on everything from vacations to fur capes.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, no relation to the two, staggered jail terms for the couple because they have two children.

Jackson Jr., who specifically pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit false statements and mail and wire fraud, got a 30-month sentence. He served time in a halfway house, two correctional facilities and home detention for a total of 22 months. He got a reduced sentence for good conduct and for completing a substance abuse program.

He is now on a supervised release for three years.

Jackson Jr. had represented the 2nd Congressional district from 1995 until he resigned in 2012 during the federal investigation. He also then received treatment for bipolar disorder and depression.

Sandi Jackson represented the 7th ward in Chicago from 2007 until she resigned in 2013 before her entered guilty plea in the case.

A spokesman for Jackson and her family declined comment.

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