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Washington (CNN) -- Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., once a rising Democratic star whose political fortunes imploded over the use of campaign finances to support lavish personal spending, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday.

"I misled the American people," Jackson, 48, said before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed the term, which she said should be served in Alabama.

The ex-Illinois lawmaker's wife, Sandi, received a 12-month sentence for her role in her husband's misuse of roughly $750,000 in campaign funds over several years.

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. enters U.S. District Court in Washington on February 20. The Ilinois Democrat pleaded guilty then to federal charges of misusing about $750,000 in campaign funds. Jackson's wife, Sandra, a former Chicago alderman, also pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns. Jackson was sentenced to 30 months in prison while Sandra Jackson received a 12-month sentence.

Jackson and his wife, Sandra, leave U.S. District Court in Washington on February 20 after entering guilty pleas. The ex-lawmaker pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and false statements and admitted to years of using campaign money to pay for things such as vacations, restaurant bills and memorabilia.

Jackson, here on the U.S. Capitol steps in December 2011, represented Illinois' 2nd Congressional District from 1995 to 2012. He resigned from Congress in November 2012, citing the need to spend time "restoring my health."

Jackson addresses the health care overhaul at an August 2009 town hall meeting at a Chicago church.

From left, Jackson, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama stand for the national anthem during the bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth at the U.S. Capitol in February 2009.

Jackson responds in December 2008 to allegations in a bribery scandal involving then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich was accused of trying to profit as he considered whom to appoint to take Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich began serving a 14-year sentence on a corruption conviction in March 2012. No charges were filed against Jackson.

The Rev. Jessie Jackson, holding his grandson, Jessie Jackson III, and his son, Jessie Jackson Jr., leave a White House ceremony in December 2005. Prosecutors are recommending that the former congressman and his wife not serve their sentences at the same time because they have children.

Jackson addresses the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston in July 2004. The son of the civil rights leader was once viewed as a rising political star.

Photos: Jesse Jackson Jr.

Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandra, arrive at federal court in Washington on August 14, 2013, for sentencing. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for improper use of campaign funds, while his wife got 12 months for filing false tax returns.

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Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay leaves the Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas, after being sentenced to three years in prison, with probation in 2011, for money laundering and conspiracy.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was convicted in 2007 of obstructing a federal investigation into who revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000, but former President George W. Bush commuted his sentence.

Former Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2009 after being convicted of 11 counts of corruption related to using his office to solicit bribes. He was also ordered to forfeit $470,000.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2007 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud and making false statements to investigators.

U.S. Rep. James Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, spent seven years in prison after being convicted of bribery and corruption and tax evasion charges in 2002.

Former Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a former Vietnam War ace, was sentenced in 2006 to eight years in prison in 2006 after he was convicted of collecting $2.4 million in homes, yachts, antique furnishings and other bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress.

Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Illinois, lost his seat in the Republican landslide of 1994 following corruption charges. He served a year in prison after his 1996 conviction before being pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Politicians behaving badly

Photos: Politicians behaving badly

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Photos: Political families

As the judge read her sentence, Sandi Jackson wept. Her husband smiled slightly when he received his punishment, which was less than what the government sought.

The pair pleaded guilty in February to various charges -- Jackson to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and false statements; and his wife to filing false tax returns.

After the hearing, Jackson acknowledged his failings and hoped for a renewal.

"I still, believe in the power of forgiveness. I believe in the power of redemption. Today I manned up and tried to accept responsibility for the error of my ways," he said before climbing into a waiting vehicle.

A smooth politician and the son of a civil rights leader and one-time political heavyweight, the younger Jackson admitted to using campaign money to pay for things such as vacations, furs and Michael Jackson memorabilia.

In a statement read in court, Jackson said he wanted to be held accountable for his actions and he knew what he did was wrong.

He also asked the judge to not punish his wife for what he said "was a subset of what I did."

"I ask that my kids not suffer from my actions," Jackson said of his two children, 9 and 13. "If probation is not available to my wife, give me her time."

Jackson's lawyers reiterated that sentiment and asked the court for an 18-month sentence for Jackson and probation for his wife.

"This is not Madoff," Reid Weingarten, Jackson's lawyer, said in court, referring to notorious Wall Street swindler Bernie Madoff. "There was no Ponzi scheme."

Sandi Jackson sobbed through part of her courtroom statement and said she "put her family unit in peril" for filing false tax returns.

"I stand before you today asking for mercy," she said. "My heart breaks every day with the pain it's caused my babies. I ask the court for mercy."

Prosecutors had sought a four-year sentence for Jackson and 18 months in jail and restitution of $168,550 for his wife.

"This is a sad day that involves a waste of talent," prosecutor Matthew Graves said. "They were in the top 10 percent of household earnings in the United States. There's just no need for this kind of conduct."

Graves said that Jackson did not "deserve credit" for his job as a congressman.

"That's what he was paid to do," he said.

Jackson's lawyers pointed to his record in Washington -- one they said was good -- in arguing for a lighter sentence.

Jackson told the judge the federal correctional facility in Alabama would be a good place to serve his time.

"I ask for Alabama so I can be as far away from everybody for a while as I can be," he said. "I want to make it a little inconvenient for everybody to get to me."

After sentencing, the judge gave the couple a few minutes to discuss who wanted to serve their sentence first.

Jackson will begin his sentence around November 1 at a prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, the judge said.

According to court records, Jackson misused about $750,000 in campaign funds from August 2005 through July 2012. Some of the eye-popping spending included $60,000 at Antiques of Nevada, where Jackson bought two hats belonging to the late singer Michael Jackson costing more than $8,000; a $5,000 football signed by U.S. presidents; and memorabilia involving the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and martial artist Bruce Lee.

The Jackson's also use campaign funds to purchase Blu-Ray DVD players from Best Buy, dresses and jewelry from a small boutique and fur capes and parkas from a Beverly Hills, California, furrier.

Jackson served in the House of Representatives from 1995 until 2012, when he took a medical leave of absence and never returned.

He was succeeded by Democratic Rep. Robin L. Kelly, who won a special election this year to fill the vacancy in the Illinois 2nd Congressional District.

Jackson's lawyers later stated he suffers from bipolar disorder.

Early in his political career, Jackson was considered a politician on the rise.

In 1997, Newsweek named him one of the 100 people to watch in the next century.

"He's a hit in Congress," read the Newsweek article. "Will he be the first black president?"

Although Jackson never lived up to that hype, he was an extremely vocal supporter of then-candidate Barack Obama.

"I'm sure that Dr. King is looking down on us here in Denver noting this is the first political convention in history to take place within sight of a mountaintop," Jackson said in 2008, referencing the Rev. Martin Luther King's famous speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop."

"I know Barack Obama," Jackson said. "I've seen his leadership at work. I've seen the difference he has made in the lives of people across Illinois."

Outside the courtroom, Jackson Sr. told reporters that his son was "unbelievably sick" a year ago, but is now doing better.

"I don't know how I missed so many signs," the elder Jackson said.

CNN's Carol Cratty, Athena Jones, and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.