The Lowell Sun is reporting a possible plea bargain that might allow former state Sen. J. James Marzilli to keep his pension and have criminal charges alleging that he accosted four women in Lowell last June dismissed. The Boston Globe reported April 14 that prosecutors are pushing for a jail term.

In a report April 11, The Sun said Marzilli's attorney, Terry Kennedy, met behind closed doors in Lowell Superior Court April 10 for a conference with Judge Paul Chernoff and prosecutor Elizabeth Dunigan to discuss a possibly resolving the case as "continued without a finding" after a recent decision by the state's highest court that allows such agreements in Superior Court. The paper did not report how it knew such a meeting took place and Kennedy has been asked to comment.

The Sun reported that such agreements are common in district courts, where defendants admit to sufficient facts, agreeing that prosecutors could prove their case. The charges are typically misdemeanors and carry probation or jail time, not prison.

Under such an agreement, the defendant is placed on probation. If the defendant completes probation with no further legal trouble, the case is dismissed.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone has stated that he opposes the use of such agreements in felony cases in Superior Court, the newspaper reported. But it is up the judge to decide wherther to accept such a deal.

Continuing with a finding is one of a number of possible resolutions to the Marzilli case, short of trial. The trial was rescheduled for April 28 from April 6 after Kennedy said he planned to be on vacation, but Chernoff changed the date to a "status" after asking Kennedy for more of Marzilli's records, The Sun reported. No new trial date has been scheduled.

Marzilli, 50, an Arlington Democrat, is accused of groping and/or making lewd comments to four women in downtown Lowell last June 3.

He has pleaded innocent to three counts of annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex involving three victims. He also is facing charges of attempting to commit a crime (indecent assault and battery), disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex in connection with the fourth victim.

Through his lawyer, Marzilli says he suffers from bipolar disorder that can cause dramatic mood swings from overly "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between.

He was elected to the Senate after serving 17 years in the House of Representatives. Until he resigned last November, Marzilli had continued to collect his $55,569 annual salary and $7,500 stipend as chairman of Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, despite not returning to work since his arrest.

State Rep. James Arciero of Westford has filed a bill to eliminate pension perks, such as the one Marzilli is trying to get that would double his pension, and expects it to be incorporated in pension-reform package scheduled to be debated Tuesday.

The trial of former state Sen. J. James Marzilli has been postponed until April 28 because his attorney will be on vacation.