CONNEAUT —
A city man convicted of a 1989 murder will remain behind bars for at least three more years, officials said Thursday.
The Ohio Parole Board denied Jeffrey Sedmak’s request for release, according to a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Sedmak had appeared before the board in early June.
His next hearing won’t occur until June 2015, the spokesman said. At that time, Sedmak will have spent 25 years in a cell. His last parole hearing occurred in 2009.
Sedmak, 42, pleaded guilty to murder in May 1990 to the shotgun slaying of Steven Sabo and was sentenced to serve 15 years to life. Sedmak told police he mistook Sabo for a burglar when he fired two shotgun blasts inside his home. Sedmak and Sabo were friends, police said.
Sabo’s mother, Betty, has conducted letter-writing campaigns over the years aimed at keeping Sedmak incarcerated. She spearheaded a similar campaign timed to Sedmak’s June hearing, urging people to contact the parole board with this message: “Jeffrey Sedmak took the life of his victim, Steven A. Sabo, and changed the lives of many. He committed aggravated murder and should be held for his actions.”
In May, Betty Sabo said many people — including some living out of state — were writing letters urging the state to deny Sedmak’s parole request. She could not be immediately reached for comment on the decision, but did leave a phone message thanking everyone who communicated with the board on her son’s behalf.
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