http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1374070/John-Edwards-suicidal-facing-jail-claim-pals.html#ixzz1Im5Sl57WDisgraced politician John Edwards is said to be deeply depressed - to the point of being suicidal - over the prospect of a criminal trial that could end with him being jailed if found guilty.
The 57-year-old former Presidential candidate reportedly told a close friend: 'I won't go to jail. I'd kill myself first!'
He has lost 20lb in the last year and is a 'broken spirit,' reports the National Enquirer.
According to the Enquirer, a close source said: 'I think John is suicidal. He knows that if he's indicted, prosecutors will try to get him to serve jail time and make an example of him.
'He's absoluetly despondent over the fear of prison.
'Over the last year, he's lost about 20lb and friends are concerned that he's escaping reality with booze.
'In early March, his legal team told him there was a strong chance he could be indicted, and John completely lost it.
'He cried his eyes out and said, "I won't go to jail. I'd kill myself first!"'
The Enquirer first broke the story of Edwards's affair with blonde divorcee Rielle Hunter. A series of exclusives charted his sordid double life and his efforts to cover up the birth of his love child, daughter Frances Quinn, who is now three.
The former North Carolina senator has been under federal grand jury investigation since April 2009 for alleged payments to take care of Miss Hunter in violation of campaign rules.
Probes have been carried out by both the IRS and the FBI.
Complicating matters for Mr Edwards is the actions of Andrew Young, the former aide who helped cover up the affair by claiming he was Frances Quinn's father.
Mr Young, who later admitted he lied to protect Mr Edwards, wrote a book about his role in the cover-up.
Now Mr Edwards is said to be worried about the prospect of Mr Young taking the stand as the prosecution's star witness.
Mr Young has claimed that two wealthy supporters of the Edwards camp pumped vast sums of money into the campaign for the cover-up.
The case of the mysterious alleged sex tape involving Mr Edwards is also gathering pace.
Mr Edwards has had to give evidence over Miss Hunter’s request to get the purported 'private and personal' recording back from Mr Young.
Mr Hunter is suing Mr Young for the return of the tape that reportedly Mr Edwards performing sex acts on her.
Mr Young’s wife, Cheri, said on Oprah Winfrey's show last year: ‘I won't give any fine details, but I'll tell you yes, he is naked.
‘He is performing sexual acts. The woman is holding the camera. He is aware he is being taped.’
According to the Wall Street Journal Mr Young has described the tape as like ‘watching a traffic pile-up occur in slow motion - repelling but also transfixing.'
Now Edwards fears for the future of his family.
His three oldest children - Harvard-educated lawyer Cate, 28, Emma, 12, and Jack, ten - are still mounring the passing away of their mother Elizabeth, who died of breast cancer in December.
A second source told the Enquirer: 'John isn't hiding the fact that he's terrified of going to prison, but he's also extremely distraught about what will happen to his children.
'He's severely depressed and even John's parents, who are very close to him and their grandkids, are on edge.'
Mr Edwards recently took his three oldest children to a beach resort fior as getaway.
According to the Enquirer, the source said: 'John's children are all that he has left, and the trip was a way for him to say goodbye.
'He doesn't want to leave the children, but he says he can't go on living like this. His spirit is broken.'
Topic: 'I'd kill myself first!' John Edwards 'suicidal' over facing jail, claim pals (Read 459 times)