Zimbabwean court orders former Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds to be deported

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/21/zimbabwean-court-orders-former-illinois-rep-mel-reynolds-to-be-deported/




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Reynolds

In August 1994, Reynolds was indicted for sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer that began during the 1992 campaign.[1] Despite the charges, he continued his campaign and was re-elected that November; he had no opposition.[1] Reynolds initially denied the charges, which he claimed were racially motivated. On August 22, 1995, he was convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. He resigned his seat on October 1 of that year.[2]

Reynolds was sentenced to five years in prison, thus he expected to be released in 1998. However, in April 1997 he was convicted on 15 unrelated counts of bank fraud and lying to SEC investigators. These charges resulted in an additional sentence of 78 months in federal prison. Reynolds served all of his first sentence, and served 42 months in prison for the later charges. At that point, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentence for bank fraud. As a result, Reynolds was released from prison and served the remaining time in a halfway house.[3][4]

Zimbabwean court orders former Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds to be deported
By Reuters
Friday, February 21, 2014 10:23 EST

HARARE (Reuters) – A Zimbabwean court on Friday ordered the deportation of former U.S. congressman Mel Reynolds after he pleaded guilty to staying in the southern African country on an expired visa.

Reynolds, 62, was arrested at a local hotel on Monday but has denied additional charges of possessing pornographic images and videos. That case was due to continue later on Friday.

Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe fined Reynolds $100 or five days in prison for the visa misdemeanor. His lawyer Arthur Gurira told the court the former Illinois congressman had suffered a mild stroke earlier this year.