Parole nixed for ex-Sen. James Marzilli

Parole nixed for ex-Sen. James Marzilli

By Jessica Heslam  |   Saturday, March 19, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Disgraced ex-state Sen. James Marzilli’s long-shot bid for parole — after less than a month behind bars for a lewd Lowell bender — was shot down yesterday by the Parole Board, according to the state Department of Public Safety.

His attorney, Terrence Kennedy, said yesterday Marzilli “had no expectations of being paroled, and he understood that.”

“He’s OK. I went and saw him the other day,” Kennedy told the Herald. “He’s adjusting. Anybody who goes to jail — it’s a big adjustment. He’s accepting his situation and he’s dealing with it

“It’s not a 10-year sentence,” the attorney added, “so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Marzilli has been jailed at the Billerica House of Correction since last month, when he was sentenced to 90 days after pleading guilty to sexually harassing four women randomly over a four-hour period in Lowell in 2008.

The married grandfather — who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to his lawyer — later resigned from his Senate post.

The hearing was held before one member of the Parole Board, whose name was not released.

The Arlington Democrat is getting some “earned good time” and is expected to be sprung in early May, Kennedy said.

In addition to spewing salacious remarks at the women, Marzilli was also accused of trying to outrun police and telling them he was Dorchester state Rep. Martin Walsh.

Marzilli was also slapped with five years of probation. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence him to a year in the clink.

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