Mel Reynolds
| Mel Reynolds | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district |
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| In office January 3, 1993 – October 1, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Gus Savage |
| Succeeded by | Jesse Jackson, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Melvin Reynolds January 8, 1952 Mound Bayou, Mississippi |
| Political party | Democratic |
Melvin "Mel" Reynolds (born January 8, 1952) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He resigned from Congress after a conviction for statutory rape.[1]
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Early life [edit]
Reynolds and his twin brother, Marvin Jerry Reynolds, were born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, sons of the Rev. J. J. Reynolds and Essie Mae Prather.[2] Reynolds moved to Chicago as a child. He received an Associate of Arts from one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and from Harvard University with a M.P.A..[2] He also won a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he attended Lincoln College and received an LL.B..[2]
Before entering politics, Reynolds worked as an assistant professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. He also founded the Community Economic Development and Education Foundation.
Political career [edit]
Reynolds was unsuccessful in his 1988 and 1990 campaigns against Congressman Gus Savage. However, Reynolds defeated Savage in 1992 and served in the U.S House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.[2]
Criminal convictions [edit]
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]
Later career [edit]
In January 2001 Reynolds received a commutation for his bank fraud conviction from President Bill Clinton and was hired by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/Push Coalition to decrease the number of young blacks going to prison.[5]
In 2004, Reynolds was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary by incumbent Jesse Jackson, Jr., with Jackson netting 88% of the vote.[2]
In late 2012, the Chicago ABC affiliate reported that Reynolds had plans to announce his candidacy to replace the recently resigned Jesse Jackson, Jr. in the Illinois's 2nd congressional district special election, 2013.[6]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Rudin, Ken (2007-06-06). "The Equal-Opportunity Culture of Corruption". NPR.org. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ a b c d e f "Black Americans in Congress - Mel Reynolds". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
- ^ Clinton Commutation Grants, January 2001, University of Pittsburgh Law (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pardons6b.htm)
- ^ Interview with Mel Reynolds, Chicago Reporter, January 2001 (http://www.chicagoreporter.com/2001/1-2001/sentencing/Mel.htm)
- ^ http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/reynolds.asp
- ^ Schulte, Sarah, Mel Reynolds announces run for Jesse Jackson Jr.'s old seat in Congress, WLS-TV ABC7 News website, 28 November 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
External links [edit]
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record at The Washington Post
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gus Savage |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd congressional district 1993-1995 |
Succeeded by Jesse Jackson, Jr. |
- 1952 births
- Living people
- African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
- University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign alumni
- Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford
- American fraudsters
- American sex offenders
- People convicted of child pornography offenses
- People convicted of obstruction of justice
- American Rhodes scholars
- Politicians from Chicago, Illinois
- Illinois Democrats
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
- Recipients of American presidential clemency
- Roosevelt University faculty
- Twin people from the United States
- American politicians convicted of fraud
- John F. Kennedy School of Government alumni
