May 19 (UPI) — Former congressman Anthony Weiner will plead guilty in federal court on Friday to a sexting case involving a teenage girl, sources close to the case said.
The sources familiar with the deal told NBC New York that the 52-year-old former New York lawmaker will plead guilty to a charge of transferring obscene material to a minor.
Weiner surrendered to the FBI early Friday, The New York Times reported. Federal authorities in January 2016 began investigating reports that Weiner exchanged sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old girl from North Carolina.
Prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of two years but Weiner’s lawyers are expected to ask for probation instead, the sources said. A judge will determine the final sentence, which could bring as many as 10 years.
Weiner represented New York’s 9th congressional district in Brooklyn and Queens for 12 years until he stepped down in 2011 after admitting to sending sexually explicit social media messages and texts to several women.
In late August, longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin announced she and Weiner were separating after allegations he sent sexually suggestive photos again — this time with an unidentified woman in her 40s described as divorced. Outlets in March reported Abedin and Weiner are attempting to reconcile their marriage.
In September, Weiner suggested he had “likely been the subject of a hoax” after the accusations of sexting with the teen first surfaced.
