By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
Kevin Jackson, a former Providence city councilman who admitted in October to embezzling funds from the youth track program he founded and converting contributions to his campaign account to personal use, was sentenced to prison Wednesday, while given the chance by the judge to make restitution by being released each day from the ACI to earn a paycheck.
“I take full responsibility for my actions as well as my inactions,” Jackson told the court, as he apologized for taking $12,074.06 from his campaign finance account, and $105,042.15 from the Providence Cobras Track Club, according to the prosecution.
The state asked that Jackson serve three years of a ten-year sentence, but Judge Brian Stern sentenced him to serve 1 1/2 years, be placed probation for the remainder, and to pay a $1,000 fine for misuse of campaign funds.
“A campaign contribution is not a gift to be used by a candidate however they may please,” said Judge Stern, as he ordered the money Jackson converted from his campaign account to be sent to the Rhode Island Board of Elections to be used to educate candidates and others about campaign finance statutes and regulations.
Stern ordered the money taken from the Cobras to be paid to the state, and a magistrate would determine, with input from the Attorney General, how the funds will be used for a charitable purpose.
“If the money was appropriately spent on these youth, how much more programs could have been done, how many more youth could have been served by this?” asked Assistant Attorney General Paul Carnes.
“Yes, he did this,” said Jackson’s defense attorney Daniel Calabro, Jr. “But who knows, once he gets through this, he’s going to commit his heart and soul back to this organization.”
“The restitution, is not a problem for him, judge because he intends on continuing to give to this organization. And he can only do that, and pay the restitution if he’s out in society and has a job.”
The work release part of Jackson’s sentence is not unusual. A spokesman for the Department of Corrections said that of the 226 people serving their sentence in the Minimum Security section of the Adult Correctional Institutions on Wednesday, 14 were on work release.
