Judge James Block Zagel
September 2012: Median Prison Sentence
District Court - Illinois North
Referring Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Program Area: White Collar Crime
District Court - Illinois North
Referring Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Program Area: White Collar Crime
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 1.1 months, when looking only at cases referred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation falling under the broad category of "White Collar Crime". During the current fiscal year, Judge James Block Zagel has sentenced 2 defendants compared with 2 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 7.0 months. This was 66.6% lower than the 21.0 months typical in Illinois North and 53.2% lower than the 15.0 months median prison sentence for the nation. Judge James Block Zagel sentenced 12 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.)
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 0.0 months to 52.0 months, putting Judge Zagel's median prison sentence of 7.0 months at the lower end of the range. The median prison sentence for the whole Northern District of Illinois during that time was 21.0 months.
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 Charges in Cases Handled
The lead charge with the most cases disposed of by Judge James Block Zagel for the past five years was "18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television". It accounted for 33.3% of all cases.
Other lead charges with substantial numbers of cases that were disposed by Judge James Block Zagel over the past five years were: "18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles" (25.0%), "18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud" (25.0%), "18 USC 656 - Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp" (8.3%), "Other US Code Section" (8.3%).
| Lead Charge | Judge | District | US | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 USC 1343 - Fraud by wire, radio, or television | 33.3% | 29.0% | 14.2% | |
| 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles | 25.0% | 28.4% | 15.8% | |
| 18 USC 1344 - Bank Fraud | 25.0% | 13.2% | 17.6% | |
| 18 USC 656 - Theft/embezzlement/misapplication by bank off, emp | 8.3% | 2.7% | 3.9% | |
| Other US Code Section | 8.3% | 0.6% | 0.5% |
Table 2: Composition of Cases for the Past Five Years (Top 10)