Ex-Congressman's Wife Pleads Guilty -- Marisol Reynolds To Help Prosecutors

CHICAGO - The wife of former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, who stood by him despite his affair with a 16-year-old girl, turned against him yesterday, saying he had abused her repeatedly and forced her to help him cheat the government.

Marisol Reynolds, 33, had pleaded not guilty two days earlier to charges that she and her husband lied to obtain a mortgage, used campaign donations for personal use and lied to the Federal Election Commission.

But yesterday, she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government, saying she was an abused wife and will help authorities prosecute the father of her three children.

"During the entire period of the marriage, Marisol was beaten or threatened with beatings every single day," her lawyer, Greg Adamski, said after yesterday's hearing. "Marisol did as she was told to do because she was fearful of retaliation."

Marisol Reynolds acknowledged lying and defrauding the government while she was treasurer of her husband's congressional campaign, forging signatures on an estimated $35,000 intended for the campaign but spent elsewhere.

In return for her guilty plea and cooperation, prosecutors agreed to drop all but one charge and to recommend probation. She could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar said prosecutors "have no reason to think that she is not being truthful.

Mel Reynolds has pleaded not guilty to bank and wire fraud and making false statements. No trial date has been set. The bank-fraud charge carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine.

They lost their comfortable suburban home, and with Mel Reynolds behind bars, Marisol Reynolds moved to Boston with their children. Attorneys say she is destitute and depends on Aid for Dependent Children.

Mel Reynolds' attorney, Rick Halprin, declined to comment on Marisol Reynolds' plea and the abuse allegations.

Mel Reynolds, 44, already is serving a five-year sentence for his affair with the underage campaign worker and for trying to obstruct the investigation of it.

He resigned from Congress last year after his conviction.

It was the downfall of a new political star, a former Rhodes scholar who in 1992 ousted Democrat Gus Savage to represent the 2nd District.

Throughout Reynolds' state trial, his wife stolidly listened to sordid testimony about the affair, including taped conversations in which Reynolds urged the girl to arrange a sexual threesome.

After his conviction, Marisol Reynolds appeared on Larry King Live with her husband, saying, "He still has his wife, and we're going to make it through this."