The Latest: Ex-US Rep. Mel Reynolds gets 6-month sentence

CHICAGO – The Latest on the sentencing of former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds (all times local):

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4 p.m.

A federal judge has handed former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds a six month prison sentence for failing to file tax returns, telling the Harvard graduate he’d “squandered” opportunities to become something better.

At Thursday’s sentencing in Chicago, Judge Robert Gettleman alluded to how the 66-year-old had brought himself up from poverty in Mississippi to win a seat in Congress. Gettleman recalled thinking himself in the early 1990s about Reynolds’ promise.

Earlier, Reynolds asked the judge for a year of probation. Reynolds asked Gettleman: “To put me in jail serves what purpose?”

The judge cited Reynolds’ conviction in the mid-’90s for statutory rape and later convictions, including for concealing debts. He said it was a “tragedy” he’d “squandered the opportunities” he had.

For failing to file tax returns for income made while consulting for Chicago businessmen in Africa, prosecutors had asked for a two-year sentence.

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7:30 a.m.

Former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds is up for sentencing on convictions that he failed to file tax returns for income he made while consulting for Chicago businessmen in Africa.

Thursday’s sentencing comes some seven months after U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman found Reynolds guilty in a bench trial on four misdemeanour counts.

Reynolds has been representing himself. In a Wednesday filing, he argued that one year of probation would be an appropriate sentence. Prosecutors argued earlier that he deserves at least two years behind bars because he had flouted the law for so long. The maximum sentence is four years in prison.

The Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar resigned from Congress in 1995 after being convicted of statutory rape. He was later convicted on charges that included concealing debts.