Here's a look at the life of former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who is serving a 48 month prison sentence.

Personal: Birth date: September 4, 1955

Birth place: Newark, New Jersey

Birth name: Bernard Bailey Kerik

Father: Donald Kerik, a machinist

Mother: Patricia (Bailey) Kerik

Marriages: Hala (Matli) Kerik (1998-present); Jacqueline Llerena (1983-1992, divorced); Linda Hales (1978-1983, divorced)

Children: with Hala Kerik: Celine; Angelina; with Jacqueline Llerena: Joseph Michael; with Yi Yun Cha: Yi Sa (Lisa)

Education: Empire State College, State University of New York, B.S., 2002

Military service: U.S. Army, 1974-1977

Other Facts: His mother, Patricia, abandoned the family when Kerik was a child. Years later, Kerik found out she was a prostitute who may have been murdered.

Served as a security chief in a Saudi royal hospital.

Has a black belt in karate.

Timeline: 1986 - Joins the New York Police Department (NYPD).

1993 - Serves as driver and bodyguard to Rudy Giuliani during Giuliani's 1993 mayoral campaign.

1994 - Joins the New York City Department of Corrections.

1998-2000 - Commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections.

August 21, 2000-December 31, 2001 - Serves as police commissioner of New York City.

2002-2005 - Member of the board of directors for Taser International, Inc.

2003 - At the request of President George W. Bush, travels to Iraq to help train the new Iraqi police force.

December 3, 2004 - President George W. Bush nominates Kerik to be the Homeland Security secretary.

December 10, 2004 - Withdraws his nomination due to potential tax violations and a former household employee's questionable immigration status.

December 22, 2004 - Announces his resignation as senior vice president at Giuliani Partners, the firm headed by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

2005 - Creates The Kerik Group LLC, a crisis and risk management consulting company.

June 30, 2006 - Pleads guilty to charges that while head of the NYC Corrections Department, he received $165,000 in gifts from a New Jersey construction firm Interstate Industrial Corp., a company alleged to have ties to organized crime. He also failed to report a $28,000 loan from a real estate developer and is ordered to pay $221,000 in fines.