Prosecutors, police officers and even a former classmate of local police killer Fred E. Joseph Jr. have been working to keep Joseph in prison one year earlier than they originally expected.

And even if the group is successful in their quest to keep Joseph behind bars, a recently passed Ohio law now will send them back to the parole board to renew their argument every five years.

Senate Bill 256 took effect in April after it passed in the state Legislature and was signed earlier this year by Gov. Mike DeWine. The law retroactively decrees that all juvenile offenders must get a chance at parole.

The law applies to previous crimes and sentences, regardless of when a juvenile committed the crime or the fact that when justice was meted out, the sentence was perfectly legal.

As a juvenile, Fred Joseph Jr. shot and killed Niles police Officer John Utlak in 1982. He was convicted one year later, and sentenced to serve 30 years to life in prison. But thanks to the new law, Joseph is among many offenders now getting increased chances at freedom.

Authorities originally had set a 2022 date for a parole hearing, after Joseph’s bid for parole in 2012 was rebuffed. But under Ohio’s new law, Joseph, imprisoned in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, was permitted to have a parole hearing this month.

Joseph, 17 at the time of Utlak’s murder, would be eligible for release Nov. 1 if the parole board looks favorably on his case.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is opposing parole, arguing to keep Joseph in prison. In a lengthy letter to the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Watkins noted that Joseph is housed in a maximum security prison because his bad behavior in prison “only confirms what we saw from him as a juvenile in society —

a dangerous psychopath with little or no conscience.”

Doug Sollitto, a high school classmate of Joseph who also served as a corrections officer, also included a statement in Watkins’ correspondence. Sollitto came in contact with Joseph in prison, including a chilling conversation that Sollitto said he will never forget.

Sollitto, in the affidavit, recalls Joseph acknowledging to him being the triggerman in Utlak’s death and telling the prison guard: “When I get out, I’m going to sit across from the Niles Police Department and shoot the first five cops that come out the door.”

Sollitto said Joseph then pointed his finger, as if he had a gun, and pulled his finger like it was on a trigger — saying “bing, bing, bing … all they can do is bring me back here.”

We understand kids make mistakes and, generally speaking, people often deserve a second chance. However, the murder of a police officer is neither a small nor common mistake. Anyone who commits such a heinous or brutal crime likely does not deserve additional chances at freedom.

Sadly, not everyone can be rehabilitated. And let’s not forget that juveniles convicted of such horrible crimes already have received a second chance because in Ohio they do not face the death penalty.

Further, the process of converting a juvenile case to adult court is arduous, with many hoops created for the very reason of

protecting juveniles. But once they’ve cleared all the hurdles, it’s because it’s been proven

that the defendant deserves to be tried in adult court.

After already enduring such pain and suffering in the deaths of their loved ones, don’t victims’ families deserve peace in knowing they must not endure the sadness and frustration of facing parole hearings at an increased frequency or, worse, the killer’s release?

This law should be repealed. Like other Ohio cases, appeals to convictions and life sentences handed down to juvenile offenders should be heard only on their merits or trial error. This blanket opportunity to get out of jail must not stand.

editorial@vindy.com

SCRIPTURE

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV