United States District Judge Callie Granade sentenced former Mobile County Commissioner Freeman Jockisch to 10 years in federal prison July 15, the minimum sentence for his conviction on attempting to lure a child for unlawful sex, which a jury unanimously found Jockish guilty of in April.
Before the sentencing hearing began, Jockisch’s health was questioned. He claimed he had fallen and struck his head before leaving the jail, but elected to proceed with the hearing despite being lightheaded.
Photo courtesy of MPD
Freeman Jockisch
“I’ve passed out three times in jail already, and I woke up in a pool of blood,” Jockisch said as he approached the bench. “That’s how they treat you.”
He later complained of police brutality by the Saraland Police Department, who arrested him in 2013.
Jerry Jockisch suggested his father never entered the apartment he believed a 15-year-old girl to be in, but instead turned from the door without knocking before being dragged in by SPD officers.
A prosecutor later called those allegations “completely unfounded.”
“After giving him a concussion, (the Saraland Police) interrogated him. That’s entrapment,” Jerry Jockisch said. “This was not a fair trial because all the evidence was not heard.”
Jockisch’s son was referring to his father’s medical conditions including a diagnosis of early onset dementia, which Granade did not deem admissible during the trial.
During the course of the sentencing hearing, Jockish said more than once he was “impotent” and “couldn’t make love to nobody.” He also had a long-time physician present to confirm those and other medical claims that were made.
During his final statements, Jockish suggested he was set up by political opponents and maintained that he had only traveled to Saraland to “minister” to what he believed to be a troubled young girl.
“I could tell you things that could put some of these judges and congressmen in prison, but I’m not that kind of person,” he said. “It’d be better if you put a gun to my head and blew my brains out for what you’re doing to me.”
Jockisch, who spent 11 years as a county commissioner, was arrested last November after traveling to meet a girl he believed to be 15 years old.
After have multiple documented conversations through the “Causal Encounters” section of Craigslist, Jockish believed he spoke to the “girl” via telephone but was actually speaking to a special agent of the FBI, who was working with local officers in Saraland.
Agents and officers then arranged a meeting at an apartment complex in Saraland, where Jockisch was arrested.
Defense attorney Jeff Deen said Jockisch initially thought he was communicating with an adult because the personal ads on Craigslist are only for use by those over the age of 18, but the jury ultimately found that defense wanting.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy, who prosecuted the case, said Jockisch induced the situation when he made comments like “let’s make love” and “let’s do it,” even after acknowledging the “girl’s” young age.
At the time of sentencing, prosecutors said Jockisch showed contempt for the court throughout the entire process of the trial, showed no remorse for his actions and blamed “everyone except the illuminati.”
Granade said the sentence of 120 months would be carried out at the closest federal prison with the capacity to meet Jockisch’s medical needs. She said access to a sex-offender treatment program would also be a factor in selecting a prison.
Jockisch will be nearly 80 years old when the term is complete, but will still be required to complete supervised probation and register as a sex offender.
He will also be unable to use a computer or any device with access to the Internet without the supervision or his parole officer and will not be able to own a firearm or possess any controlled substance.
Now that the sentence has officially been delivered, Jockisch has 14 days to submit an appeal and can do so for both his conviction and sentence.
In an interview after the conviction in April, Deen said he didn’t believe his client to be a predator and at the time said his client planed to appeal the court’s decision.
Edited to update a reference to Jockisch’s age. He is 69-years-old.
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