NEW YORK: Former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner on Friday pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of sending obscene messages to a minor, ending an investigation into a "sexting" scandal that played a role in last year's U.S. presidential election.
Appearing before U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in New York, Weiner, 52, agreed not to appeal any prison sentence of 27 months or less as part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors.
The former Democratic congressman saw his political career implode after a series of scandals involving his inappropriate sexual exchanges with women online. U.S. authorities have been investigating reports that Weiner, 52, sent explicit messages last year to a teenage girl in North Carolina.
Federal agents seized Weiner's laptop during the probe and discovered a batch of emails from his wife, Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president in 2016.
As a result, James Comey, then the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced in late October that the agency was reviewing the messages to determine whether to reopen its investigation into Clinton's handling of official correspondence.
Clinton has blamed her loss to Republican Donald Trump in part on Comey's announcement, even though Comey said two days before the election in November that the review had uncovered no new evidence.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)