Former presidential candidate, vice presidential nominee and North Carolina senator John Edwards was indicted by a federal grand jury today and charged with violating federal election laws by accepting nearly $1M from campaign supporters and using the money to cover up his affair with videographer Rielle Hunter and the paternity of the child they had.

Edwards, if convicted, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of six counts of the indictment. The case seems likely to hinge on whether the money in question was actually donated to the Edwards campaign. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said, in a statement, “We will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws.” Edwards attorney Gregory Craig denied the allegations last week and said prosecutors are pursuing an “untested” theory in their case.

"John Edwards has done wrong in his life, and he knows it better than anyone, but he did not break the law," Craig said in a statement.

ABC News provides a timeline of the strange and terrible saga of the Edwards affair, through the years.

Ourselves? We washed our hands of the guy a long time ago, but we’re not sure he did anything that he ought to be sent to prison for having done.