The husband of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., was sentenced to five months in federal prison for participating in a check-kiting scam and failing to pay withholding taxes. Robert Creamer, as executive director of the nonprofit Illinois Public Action Fund, inflated profits to pay for the group’s expenses and defrauded banks out of $2.3 million.
Creamer, 58, also was ordered to serve house arrest for 11 months after he finishes his prison term.
Prosecutors wanted a three-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge James B. Moran said five months was fairer because no one suffered ‘out-of-pocket losses’ and Creamer acted to keep the organization afloat.
Schakowsky will run for re-election in November against Republican Michael Shannon in the Ninth Congressional District of Illinois, which includes Evanston, Niles, Morton Grove and several northwest Chicago neighborhoods.