Michael Grimm, US ex-congressman, jailed for tax evasion

The former congressman once threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony

Former US congressman Michael Grimm has been sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion.

Last year Grimm pleaded guilty to charges that he underreported more than $1m (£600,000) in wages from a Manhattan health food restaurant.

The New York Republican, who once threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony, was re-elected in November but later resigned.

Prosecutors had pushed for a two-year prison sentence.

The fraud was "an aberration in an otherwise unremarkable life in selfless service of his country", his defence team wrote in court papers. Grimm is "tremendously remorseful", they said.

A former Marine and FBI agent, Grim was first elected to the House of the Representatives in 2010.

The fraud started after Grimm retired from the FBI. In 2007, he began running the day-to-day operations of Healthalicious.

Federal prosecutors said he failed to report the wages and provide receipts so he could avoid payroll, income and sales taxes.

He paid immigrant workers, some of whom were in the US illegally, in cash.