Summary: The former congressman has begun his 21-month prison sentence for sexting with an underage girl.
Former congressman Anthony Weiner arrived at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts Monday morning to begin his 21-month prison sentence. Weiner, 53, pleaded guilty to sending obscene material to a 15-year-old.
The former New York Representative was driven to the prison by his brother in a black Mercedes-Benz with Florida plates around 10:45 am. He was required to be at the prison by 2 pm. The facility is about 40 miles west of Boston with over 1,000 inmates and once houses Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
During the sentencing hearing, Weiner called himself a “very sick man” who had been that way “for a very long time.” Weiner had been exchanging sexual text messages with the 15-year-old. Part of his plea deal included not appealing a sentence of fewer than 27 months. Once Weiner serves him prison time, he will have three years of probation to serve. He must also register as a sex offender once he is released.
Prosecutors allege his behavior “suggests a dangerous level of denial and lack of self-control.” Weiner claims he has been undergoing therapy to help him control his urges. During his time from 1999 to 2011 as a politician, he represented New York’s 9th congressional district. He successfully won seven terms as a Democrat. He ran for New York City mayor in 2005 and 2013 unsuccessfully.
Weiner has been involved in politics since college. After graduating from college, he worked for three years in the Washington D.C. office of US Rep and current Senator Charles Schumer. After working there, he transferred to the district office in Brooklyn to continue his political career. He spent another three years working for Schumer before joining the New York City Council in 1991 at just 27. He spent 7 years on the council before running for Congress in 1998 for the position Schumer had held.
His unraveling began in 2011 when he sent a sexually explicit photo of himself via his public Twitter account to an adult woman who was following him on Twitter. Although he originally denied posting the photo, he eventually admitted to exchanging “messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years.” He announced a month later that he would resign from Congress.
His sexting problems did not end then. He continued to send explicit photos to other women for the next several years. The Daily Mail first reported on September 21, 2016, that one of those women was a minor. Federal prosecutors considered charging him with child pornography but settled on one charge of transferring obscene material to a minor as part of plea deal.
His now ex-wife, Huma Abedin, was a top Hillary Clinton aide, a connection that likely damaged Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Do you think therapy can correct problems like this one that Weiner has? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about other politicians that ruined their careers, read these articles:
- Yellow Toothed Politician Allegedly Fondled 103-Year-Old Victim, Cops Say
- Former Philly DA Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
- Senator Bob Menendez’s Corruption Trial Begins
Photo: flickr.com