Weingarten said Jackson’s “serious health issues” – which include bipolar disorder – led to his reckless and criminal behaviour, but that after “great treatment” Jackson has “gotten his arm around the problem.”
“He has two small children and we’re hopeful in short order or reasonably short order Jesse again will be a full-time, wonderful, caring, devoted dad,” Weingarten added.
The children may be without both their parents for some time.
Jackson’s wife, former Chicago alderwoman Sandy Jackson, pleaded guilty to submitting false tax returns as part of the deal the couple reached with prosecutors.
She faces up to three years in prison but prosecutors agreed to ask for just 18 to 24 months.
They will also have to forfeit their ill-gotten goods, repay the money stolen and face steep fines.
Jackson took a leave of absence from Congress last June to receive treatment for bipolar disorder and related depression, and for two months his whereabouts and condition were the chief mystery of Washington’s political circuit.
Earlier, he had been implicated in ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s scheme to auction off President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat in 2008.
Blagojevich was impeached and then jailed for bribery, but Jackson was never charged with any wrongdoing related to the scandal. However, prosecutors continued to dog his steps and discovered the diverted funds.
Jackson was first elected to Congress in 1995 after having worked with his father’s Rainbow Push organization.
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