September 23rd, 2016 by WCBC Radio
A Maryland judge says a man who’s been locked up nearly 38 years for the fatal shooting of a deputy has paid his debt to society. The Associated Press reports the decision Friday in Hagerstown means 68-year-old Roberto Rezek of Fairmont, West Virginia, need not die in a Maryland prison.
Rezek still faces a possible six to 12 years in Pennsylvania for crimes he committed there in 1977, two years before his accomplice in a gun-shop burglary killed Garrett County Sheriff’s Deputy David Livengood.
Rezek was convicted in 1979 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life. His conviction was reversed in 2011 because the trial judge gave improper jury instructions.
Rezek pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree murder, averting a retrial. The judge ordered a suspended life sentence, with credit for time served.
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