Judge James Block Zagel
September 2012: Median Prison Sentence

District Court - Illinois North
Lead Charge: 21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy
Program Area: Narcotics/Drugs

Show Details   Judge Compared
To District		 Compared
To U.S.
Latest Fiscal Year 63.0 - -
Previous Fiscal Year 23.5 - -
Past 5 Years 43.0 -41.5% -28.3%
Percent not reported where cases too few to provide
meaningful comparison.
Table 1: Current and 5 Year
Median Prison Sentence Comparison

For all cases disposed of in the current fiscal year (2012) that were credited to Judge James Block Zagel in the Northern District of Illinois, the median prison sentence was 63.0 months, when looking only at cases with a lead charge of "21 USC 846 - Attempt and conspiracy" falling under the broad category of "Narcotics/Drugs". During the current fiscal year, Judge James Block Zagel has sentenced 6 defendants compared with 6 defendants during the twelve months of the previous fiscal year.

Over the last five years, the median prison sentence imposed on defendants that were credited to Judge Zagel was 43.0 months. This was 41.5% lower than the 73.5 months typical in Illinois North and 28.3% lower than the 60.0 months median prison sentence for the nation. Judge James Block Zagel sentenced 22 defendants during the past five years.

(CAUTION: The kinds of cases handled by individual judges influences statistical information about their sentences. It therefore is important to consider the breakdown of cases that each has handled, available below, when making judge-by-judge comparisons.)

Bar chart of start

Figure 1: Five Year Comparison of Median Prison Sentence
in Months

Figure 1 compares Judge Zagel's numbers to those for judges in this district and in the United States as a whole for cases of this type over the last five years.

During the last five years there were 26 other judges in the Northern District of Illinois with information on convictions during that period. Median prison sentence numbers passed down for those judges ranged from 36.0 months to 126.0 months, putting Judge Zagel's median prison sentence of 43.0 months at the lower end of the range. The median prison sentence for the whole Northern District of Illinois during that time was 73.5 months.

Bar chart of label

Figure 2: Detailed Comparison among Judges for the Northern District of Illinois

Professional Biography

Born 1941 in Chicago, IL

Federal Judicial Service
Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Nominated by Ronald Reagan on February 2, 1987, to a seat vacated by Frank J. McGarr; Confirmed by the Senate on April 21, 1987, and received commission on April 22, 1987.

Education:
University of Chicago, B.A., 1962
University of Chicago, M.A., 1962
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1965

Professional Career:
Assistant state's attorney, Cook County, Illinois, 1965-1969
Assistant attorney general, State of Illinois, 1969-1977
Deputy chief, Criminal Justice Division, 1969-1970
Chief, Criminal Justice Division, 1970-1977
Chief prosecuting attorney, Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, 1973-1975
Chief assistant attorney general, State of Arizona, 1975
Executive director, Illinois Law Enforcement Commision, 1977-1979
Director, Department of Revenue, State of Illinois, 1979-1980
Chairman, Governor's Advisory Counsel on Criminal Justice Legislation, 1980-1987
Director of state police, State of Illinois, 1980-1987

Lead Investigative Agencies in Cases Handled

The lead investigative agency that referred cases disposed of by Judge James Block Zagel for the past five years was the Justice - Drug Enforcement Administration. It accounted for 77.3% of all cases.

Other agencies with substantial numbers of cases that were disposed by Judge James Block Zagel over the past five years were: Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation (22.7%).

Agency Judge District US  
Justice - Drug Enforcement Administration 77.3% 53.7% 56.8% More
Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation 22.7% 28.8% 13.9%  

Table 2: Composition of Cases for the Past Five Years (Top 10)

Number of Defendants in Judge James Block Zagel's Cases

Case Def. Sentence (Months) Sentencing Date Program Category  
1 2 89.00 07/30/12 Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force Details
2 1 292.00 07/18/12 Drugs-Drug Trafficking Details
1 1 66.00 06/27/12 Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force Details
3 1 60.00 06/26/12 Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force Details
4 1 0.34 05/31/12 Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force Details
5 1 22.00 12/14/11 Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force Details

Table 3: Individual Cases and Defendants Disposed of in Current Fiscal Year