Free Republic

Mark Jimenez released from US Federal prison Former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez has been released from a federal prison in Pennsylvania in the United States, ABS-CBN North America Bureau reported Wednesday. Public information officer Mike Furman confirmed that Jimenez was released by the Federal Correctional Institution in Allenwood, Pennsylvania on December 13, 8 a.m. (9 p.m. in Manila). Jimenez (also known as Mario Crespo) was immediately turned over to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency under the Department of Homeland Security. He said Jimenez is now "a detainee in the custody of ICE." The ICE media...

Heard through the grapevine - Former congressman Mark Jimenez was forced to spend a few more weeks in the US penitentiary after he was found to have distributed "farewell gifts" to prison guards as well as fellow inmates.

AT LEAST two members of the House of Representatives are seeking "custody" of former Manila Representative Mark Jimenez from the United States amid reports his release from a federal prison and subsequent deportation to the Philippines had been delayed because of an "infraction" he allegedly committed while serving his 20-month jail term. Jimenez, whose real name is Mario Crespo, was originally scheduled for deportation last Tuesday but was not aboard the plane that was supposed to have flown him to Manila. Jimenez was jailed in Pennsylvania after being convicted of tax fraud and illegal campaign contributions. A local television...

CHICAGO, Illinois — The headline of another newspaper yesterday was a self-fulfilling prophesy: "No red carpet, no yellow ribbons for Mark Jimenez (MJ)." If the information of the US Bureau of Federal Prisons is to be believed, the much-anticipated return of the former Manila congressman on Tuesday, Nov. 22, will have to wait. His projected release is reset to Dec. 13, 2005. In a previous posting of Jimenez’s release by the US Bureau of Federal Prisons, his original "projected release was Nov. 5, 2005." This was exactly the day of the 20th month of his imprisonment in the Federal...

CONTRARY to expectations that he would be giving some prominent people sleepless nights, it would be a more religious, more media-shy Mark Jimenez who will be coming home on Tuesday after nearly two years in a US federal prison, friends said yesterday. "He would like to devote his time to God's words," one of the friends told the Inquirer. But that doesn't mean Jimenez would be all forgiving, the friend indicated. Except Nani "He has said he has already forgiven all those who have crossed him, except Nani," he said, referring to former Justice Secretary Hernando Perez whom Jimenez...

From Tempo.com.ph - US sends Mark Jimenez back home in November By JEAMMA E. SABATE Former Manila (6th District) Congressman Mark Jimenez will be deported in November to the Philippines from the United States after serving his sentence in a federal prison, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday. This was confirmed by lawyer Ricardo Diaz, chief of NBI Interpol Division, saying that Kevin R. Peters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has advised the bureau of Jimenez's return to the country. Jimenez, 57, whose real name is Mario Crespo, is scheduled to be deported on November 21....

Mark Jimenez gets 2 years for election fraud A U.S. federal court sentenced Thursday (Friday in Manila) ousted Manila congressman Mark Jimenez to more than two years in jail for federal election fraud. Jimenez was sentenced to 2 1/4 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.2 million restitution on his guilty plea to election conspiracy and tax evasion charges. He handed over a check for the first $400,000. The court ruled that Jimenez contributed illegally to the campaigns of then-president Clinton and other Democrats, including then-senator Robert Torricelli of New Jersey. He also became a confidante of...

MIAMI -- An ousted Filipino congressman pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of tax evasion and one count of election financing fraud. Mark Jimenez, 56, agreed that he owes up to $1.5 million in income tax for 1995 and 1996 and will serve at least 21 months in prison. He will be sentenced at a later day, federal prosecutors said. Jimenez was extradited in December to Miami, where he was charged with using money from his Miami company and a closely related one to reimburse employees for illegal donations to former President Bill Clinton and other Democrats. Jimenez made...

House arrest for lawmaker extradited to US MIAMI: A Philippine lawmaker accused of tax evasion and making illegal campaign contributions to US politicians can post bail but will be under 24-hour house arrest in Florida until trial, a US judge ruled on Tuesday. Despite arguments from US prosecutors that Mark Jimenez should be kept in jail because he might flee and “cannot be trusted,” US Magistrate Ted Bandstra set a series of conditions meant to allow the congressman to be freed but keep him on a tight leash. Jimenez, who turned 56 on Tuesday, arrived in Miami on Sunday to...

Magistrate in Miami grants bail to Filipino congressman A Filipino congressman accused of tax evasion and making illegal campaign contributions to Democrats in the United States received a 56th birthday present Thursday from a federal judge who granted him bail. Filipino Rep. Mark Jimenez, former chief executive officer of a Miami computer exporting firm, is expected to spend his birthday and a few extra days behind bars while several of his children and siblings in the U.S. arrange to post $65,000 in cash and $500,000 in assets to back his bond. ''The conditions are stiff, but they are fair...

Manila legislator to leave for U.S. to face criminal charges MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- After losing an extradition battle, a wealthy Filipino lawmaker said he was ready to fly to Florida on Thursday to face charges that he made illegal campaign contributions to President Clinton and the Democratic Party in the 1990s. Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez said he was scheduled to fly late Thursday to Miami via the U.S. territory of Guam and Honolulu, Hawaii. A Manila court handling his extradition case had ordered Jimenez, 55, to leave voluntarily by Thursday or face arrest. Jimenez was indicted by a...