Jesse Jackson Jr. to begin looking for work in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WLS) -- Jesse Jackson Jr. will begin looking for a job one day after he was released from a federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama, and transferred to a halfway house in Baltimore, Maryland.

For the first time in 17 months, Jackson is waking up outside of prison. But he is not entirely free. He still has to serve the remaining six months of his 30-month prison sentence.

Jackson resigned in 2012 after a 17-year congressional career, pleading guilty to using hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign money on luxury items for himself and his family.

The former congressman said he was looking for a second chance when he arrived at the halfway house Thursday night.

"I've made mistakes. I'm prayerful and hopeful that we're a country of second chances, that the American people and the people of the City of Chicago will consider me for a second chance. I'm very, very happy that I'm with my wife and my children. I've missed them for quite some time," Jackson Jr. said upon his arrival.

Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, the couple's two children and his father, Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., arrived at the Alabama prison early Thursday morning and joined him for the 12-hour, 800-mile drive through the south and up the eastern seaboard.

Rev. Jackson said leaving the Alabama prison was an emotional experience.

"So many of the inmates, he had counseled. Teaching them how to fill out their papers and some, even how to write their letters. It was a tearful departure between him and some of his fellow inmates," Jackson Sr. said.

Rev. Jackson said he is proud of his son for how he dealt with alcohol and drug treatment over the last year and a half, and that his son's health is quite good.