Mel Reynolds

Mel Reynolds
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1993 – October 1, 1995
Preceded by	Gus Savage
Succeeded by	Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Personal details
Born	January 8, 1952 (1952-01-08) (age 59) Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Political party	Democratic

Melvin Reynolds (born January 8, 1952) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. His political career ended in scandal.^[1]

Early life

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. Reynolds moved to Chicago as a child. He received a Associate of Arts from one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Harvard University, with a M.P.A.. He also won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford's program Lincoln College, received a (LL.B.).

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

Reynolds was unsuccessful in his 1988 and 1990 campaigns against Congressman Gus Savage. However, Reynolds defeated Savage in 1992. He served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.

Criminal convictions

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.

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. However, Reynolds had never applied for presidential clemency, which is the first step to be considered for a presidential pardon. As a result, Reynolds was released from prison and served the remaining time in a halfway house.^[2][3]

Later career

In 2004, he was overwhelmingly defeated in the Democratic primary by incumbent Jesse Jackson, Jr., with Jackson netting 88% of the vote.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Rudin, Ken (2007-06-06). "The Equal-Opportunity Culture of Corruption". NPR.org. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10770284. Retrieved 2007-07-29. 
2. ^ Clinton Commutation Grants, January 2001, University of Pittsburgh Law (http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pardons6b.htm)
3. ^ Interview with Mel Reynolds, Chicago Reporter, January 2001 (http://www.chicagoreporter.com/2001/1-2001/sentencing/Mel.htm)
4. ^ Politics1 - US Political News Blog

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by 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.

Persondata
Name	Reynolds, Mel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 8, 1952
Place of birth	Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Date of death
Place of death