The daughter of President Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor has been jailed after allegedly violating the terms of her bail in a money-laundering case.
U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough ruled Monday there was probable cause to believe Jeri Wright, 49, committed a separate theft while she waited to be sentenced for illegally pocketing as much as $11,000 in state money,
the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Wright is the daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright
, the fiery Chicago minister who encouraged parishioners to sing "God Damn America" instead of "Gold Bless America."
Last March, she was convicted of money-laundering, lying to federal investigators and lying to a grand jury over her role in a state grant-fraud scheme, the Sun-Times notes.
In the new allegations, prosecutors charge Wright took part in a payrolling scheme even while she was standing trial in the fraud and money-laundering case.
According to the Sun-Times, Wright allegedly got 13 payments totaling $8,192 from a temporary staffing agency "for work she never performed" for a plastics factory in Franklin, Ind. Her lawyer argues Wright came by the money honestly, and that there’d been no charges filed against her.
Still, the judge put her behind bars until her grant-fraud sentencing March 20.
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