Judge Calls Marzilli's Behavior "Bizarre;" Orders Three Months Jail Time

A Middlesex Superior Court judge called former State Sen. Jim Marzilli's actions in 2008 "bizarre, unsettling, upsetting, and potentially dangerous."

Judge Paul Chernoff handed down a sentence of three months in county jail followed by five years probation earlier today in response to Marzilli pleading guilty to six charges, including lewd behavior, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Marzilli's career in Massachusetts politics began in 1976, and he went on to serve as a State Representative for Arlington and West Medford, then a State Senator for Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington and Woburn.

After his capture, one victim was alarmed to discover Marzilli was a politician, said assistant district attorney Elizabeth Dunigan.

“She said to me, 'This doesn’t make sense to me, he makes the laws and then he breaks them,'” said Dunigan.

Marzilli appeared in Lowell's Middlesex County Superior Court Tuesday morning to face the charges stemming from the harassment of at least four women on the streets of Lowell in June 2008. He took the stand to enter guilty pleas, but did not speak beyond that.

During the encounters on June 3, 2008, Marzilli made remarks about women's bodies, asked one about her feminine hygiene, and asked another if she was wearing underwear, said Dunigan. The victims were an assortment of ages.

In one case, Marzilli approached the victim from behind and began saying things in what the victim described as a "sexy voice," prosecutors said. Another victim, a 60-year-old woman, said she saw Marzilli staring at her, and thought she might know him. He later approached her and asked her if she was wearing any undergarments, prosecutors said.

In an incident that Chernoff said he found to be most disturbing, Marzilli hovered his hand within inches of the victim's private parts while speaking to her.

The victims said Marzilli was well-dressed and appeared to be a businessman.

“They never expected he would say something so innaproprtiate, so disturbing,” Dunigan said.

Marzilli's attorney, Terrance Kennedy, said the former state senator and state representative was suffering from bipolar disorder at the time of the incidents, and has been receiving treatment for his mental issues. Since he was arrested, Marzilli has received therapy was an in-patient at McLean's Hospital for several weeks, Kennedy said.

Kennedy argued for three years probation and no jail time, and asked the judge to consider Marzilli's mental issues, as well as his long career of public service when deciding the sentence.

"Consider not just one day, but  a lifetime of public service," Kennedy said.

Marzilli was accompanied in court by about a dozen friends and family, including his wife and sister. 

He entered guilty pleas to three counts of disorderly conduct for accosting and annoying a member of the opposite sex in a lewd way, one count of disorderly conduct for disturbing the peace, and one count of resisting arrest.

Marzilli attempted to flee when police confronted him, but was eventually cornered in a Lowell parking garage. Arresting officers said Marzilli was distressed after his arrest and said his life and career were over, Dunigan said.

Along with the six counts Marzilli pleaded guilty to, he was also initially indicted on an additional charge of attempt to commit an indecent assault and battery—a felony. He admitted there were sufficient facts to find guilt on that charge, but did not plead guilty.

Chernoff said that charge was innappropriate for the circumstances. A conviction would have required Marzilli to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and have years of GPS surveillance.

Marzilli was taken from the court in handcuffs to begin serving his sentence at the House of Corrections in Billerica.