Prosecutors say Marzilli deserves jail time

In a memorandum filed in court last week, prosecutor Elizabeth Dunigan said that if Marzilli pleads guilty before trial, she will recommend he serve one year in jail, followed by four years' probation.

After his release, he would be required to wear an electronic monitoring device, undergo sex offender treatment, and complete 400 hours of community service.

If the case were to go to trial, Dunigan said, she would seek much harsher punishment - four years in jail if Marzilli were convicted.

A tough sentence would "send a message to the public that such behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in our society no matter who the offender," Dunigan wrote. Dunigan said that even though the charges involve only four women, Marzilli might have "approached, touched, and possibly assaulted" others, but authorities could not identify them.

Marzilli's attorney, Terrence Kennedy, said his client would reject any plea bargain that includes jail time.

"It's not appropriate in this case," Kennedy said. "The facts and circumstances don't warrant that recommendation."

Marzilli, he said, is suffering from a mental illness, which should be a mitigating factor.

"Do you think someone would start acting like that at 50 if there wasn't something off upstairs?" Kennedy asked. "There's no question there's something going on."

Unless prosecutors offer a deal without jail time, Kennedy said, the case will go to trial. The trial was scheduled for April 28, but has been delayed. Kennedy said Marzilli will decide whether to have a jury or a judge hear the case.

Marzilli, a longtime lawmaker from Arlington who resigned last fall, was indicted on seven counts, including attempted indecent assault and battery, accosting four women, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

He is accused of approaching the women separately June 3 while he was in Lowell attending a function. He approached the first woman outside a community health center about 11 a.m., telling her "how beautiful she was and that he loved her," according to the memorandum. "He eyed her up and down and said "the sex is sweet, the sex is sweet, you want it, and you want to go with me," the memorandum said.

About a half hour later, the memorandum said, he approached the second woman, telling her, "Oooh baby, you are so beautiful, your body is perfect, your butt is so perfect."

Around 1 p.m., the prosecution alleges, Marzilli approached the third woman, who was waiting for a bus. Marzilli asked her if she was wearing underwear, the memorandum said. The woman, who walked with a cane, was so shaken that when the bus arrived, she fell, prosecutors said.

Marzilli approached the fourth woman at about 3 p.m., prosecutors said. Marzilli, who sat down beside her on a bench, "leaned into her and said, 'Since I saw you, I've liked you. You are a very beautiful woman,' " the documents said. He then moved his hand and eyes toward her crotch, they said.

According to authorities, two of the woman's male co-workers pointed Marzilli out to a police officer. But when officers tried to question him, he fled, running "through moving traffic as motorists swerved to avoid him." He ran into a parking garage where he was cornered by police.

When the officers sought to arrest him, he "ignored the officers' commands and refused to be handcuffed," prosecutors allege.

Marzilli has been looking for a job but has been unable to find one, Kennedy said. He has applied for a pension, but a decision was postponed until the resolution of the court case.

If he is acquitted, or the case is continued without a finding, he would be eligible for an immediate benefit of $14,180 a year.

If he is convicted, the state Board of Retirement would have to determine whether the offense was related to his official position; if it was related, his pension would be denied.

He has applied for a special termination benefit, a pension available to politicians who don't win reelection and to state employees who are fired. If that were granted, he would receive $26,554 a year.