PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano is out of the hospital Saturday after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, Philadelphia television station WCAU reported.

Mariano is currently staying with family, and he hopes to be back at the City Council by the middle of the week, the station said.

His release comes only days after he had to be talked out of the city hall clock tower by Mayor John Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson.

Mariano, 50, was upset over a federal probe into his personal finances, and that his attorney could no longer represent him.

"I can't really answer that stuff. I'm not really intelligent enough to know. I'm not a lawyer," Mariano said when asked if he had done anything illegal.

A spokesman for Mariano, Frank Keel, said the councilman told him on Friday that he went up to the observation deck on Thursday because he felt the walls were closing in because of a possible indictment on federal corruption charges.

"I just spoke with the councilman less than five minutes ago. He said, 'Frank, please tell these people I did not go up there to hurt myself. I had no intention of taking my life,'" Keel said.

"I think the whole thing, unfortunately, has been blown out of proportion," said Street, who was the first to speak with Mariano on the observation deck. "I don't think he had an idea that all of this would result from it."

"He just wanted to get away. He went up there to be alone to look out over the expanse of the city that he loves and just think about what in God's name he was going to do next," Keel said.

Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said that it would be impossible to commit suicide from the observation tower that is almost 500 feet above street level. It is completely enclosed and the windows don't open.

Nonetheless, the incident brought dozens of police to the observation deck on Thursday.

Mariano reiterated Friday through his spokesman that he does not plan to resign if he is indicted, and that he would defend himself if charged in an ongoing federal investigation of his finances.

WCAU quoted sources saying that the key to the story is Mariano's long-time friend, Vincent DiPentino. Those sources said that DiPentino was the money middleman for Mariano. DiPentino is now cooperating with the U.S. attorney's office, and a source very close to the case said that DiPentino would testify against Mariano. In fact, the source said that he is surprised that Mariano hasn't tried making a deal already.

The FBI subpoenaed Mariano's office records and e-mails in the spring. He later refused to answer questions about personal loans and income sources on city and state financial disclosure forms, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.