Brian Fazio gets 48-to-60 years in prison for trying to kill his ex-wife in 2021

A Lorain man who stabbed his estranged wife in front of their children during an ambush attack in Elyria in April 2021, then tried to hire three different people to have her killed while he sat in jail awaiting trial on attempted murder charges, is headed to prison — likely for the rest of his life. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi sentenced Brian Fazio to 48½ to 60 years in prison on Tuesday after Fazio pleaded guilty to numerous criminal charges in five different cases. The sentence will run concurrent, or at the same time, as a 44- to 49-year sentence that Fazio, a convicted rapist, is serving in an Ohio prison. Miraldi ruled that 31 to 42½ years of that sentence are mandatory, with no possibility of early release, Miraldi said. Fazio, 42, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit, promote or facilitate murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, possession of a fentanyl-related compound, domestic violence, tampering with evidence, menacing by stalking and violating a protection order, all felonies, several repeat violent offender specifications and a single misdemeanor domestic violence charge connected to multiple crimes against his now ex-wife. Fazio was labeled a violent offender, and will be placed on a state registry should he ever be released from prison. He already is a registered Tier III sex offender, though he will only have to register if he is ever released from prison. "I have to say Mr. Fazio was a gentleman in court today, but I had to base my decision upon the evidence I had from the police reports and the actual facts that occurred, and, because of that, I found that the maximum sentence on this first charge, the attempted murder, the facts were very bad, horrible to the victim," Miraldi said. "I don't think even that (sentence) was sufficient" when it came to a minimum 11 years in prison for attempted murder, the judge said. Fazio was ordered to be immediately taken from Lorain County Jail back to the Belmont Correctional Institution, where he is serving a sentence for rape and molestation. The plea resolves his last five criminal cases in common pleas court, which had been scheduled to go before a jury on Oct. 2. With a smile on his face at times during the hearing, Fazio was polite to Miraldi and answered most of his questions with "Yes, your honor" or "No, your honor." "I would again like to take full responsibility for my actions in all these cases," Fazio told Miraldi. "I would like to apologize to my ex-wife and her family for all the stress and pain that I put them through, and I pled out today because I don't want to drag anybody through a lengthy trial. I take full responsibility. That's all, your honor." In an impact statement before the court, Fazio's ex-wife — the victim of the April 2021 attempted murder, multiple domestic violence cases, protection order violations and a conspiracy to murder her — discussed the anxiety, fear and panic that came with being Fazio's target. She spoke of crying, being unable to move, "completely crippled and frozen" in fear. The victim spoke of her children's fears "because of their father's actions," and how hard it is to "raise children who are traumatized, all the while being traumatized yourself. "We just take things step by step and try to repair the damage that has been done," she said. "Take into consideration all the damage this one single person has done," the victim asked Miraldi. "I fear living in any world where the defendant is free." "Because ultimately, all the defendant cares about is himself and what he wants and will stop at nothing to get that," she said. Defense attorneys Michael Gabelman and William Mooney had asked Miraldi to sentence their client to 30 years in prison, concurrent with his existing life sentence, so that he might "see the light of day in his elder years," Gabelman said. "First and foremost, Brian takes responsibility for his actions in these cases. This was something that from nearly the beginning of my representation of Brian, that he advised me," Gabelman told Miraldi. "But he wanted to resolve this case without having to put anybody through what would be quite a long trial here and, again, taking responsibility for his actions." "Not to make an excuse out of this or anything," Gabelman said, but there was "a lot of chaos in the household, a lot of infidelities and indiscretions on both sides. Again, that's not an excuse whatsoever for Brian's actions, but he and I can't stress this enough, I've said it four or five times, he does take responsibility." Fazio is serving a life sentence in prison with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 44 years after being convicted of rape and gross sexual imposition at trial in common pleas court in December. Fazio has appealed that conviction to the 9th District Court of Appeals in Akron. He "maintains his innocence on that," Gabelman said. "It's a pretty big deal for (Fazio) to come in here without an agreement and plead to these charges," he said. "That is 30 years he is going to be serving along with the other sentence." Mooney, who was representing Fazio on the conspiracy to commit murder charges only, said his client's plea spared the victim and witnesses a two-to-three-week trial and that Fazio would "certainly accept" whatever Miraldi's sentence was. Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh asked Miraldi to not consider any other prior plea offers made to Fazio and his defense team, and instead sentence Fazio to 157½ to 163 years in prison. "The state believes this would be more appropriate for this defendant's crimes," she said. Fazio blames everyone else but himself for his situation, Leigh said. "Despite what the defendant says here today, the state would submit that there is no genuine remorse. Throughout the last two and a half years the defendant has blamed everyone from the victim in this case, the state, his mother and several others for the situation he has found himself in," she told Miraldi. "And despite what the defendant may believe, infidelities do not cause domestic violence. Unhealthy relationships do not cause domestic violence. Violent offenders cause domestic violence," Leigh said. The facts around the five cases against Fazio were "quite frankly, unbelievable," Leigh said. "They sound as though they are straight out of a horror movie, but in fact, it's not a movie: This was (the victim's) life and her four children's lives." Fazio did his ex-wife physical, psychological and economic harm. She lost money, her home, her dog — which she only recently got back in a recent divorce case. Police officers who responded to domestic violence calls in which Fazio assaulted his then-wife in late 2020 and early 2021 found bruises and bite marks on the victim, Leigh said. In the April 25, 2021, attempted murder, the victim suffered stab wounds to her abdomen and leg and cuts all over her hands, the prosecutor said. Leigh said after the victim moved in with her mother on Ohio Street in Elyria to get away from Fazio, he hid in the garage attic, surprised her and stabbed her in front of two of her children. Fazio committed "countless" protection order violations, Leigh said. He had been placed on a GPS monitoring unit following one violation but removed the GPS, attached it to his girlfriend and co-defendant Jennifer Mattern, had her stay at his house to try and fool the monitoring system, then sneaked out to ambush the victim in Elyria. Fazio and Mattern later were caught talking about the incident on calls between the two of them at the Lorain County Jail, according to the prosecutor's office. The duo also placed fentanyl in the victim's car, damaged it, then Mattern called Vermilion police and tried to have them pull her over and get her arrested on drug charges, Leigh said in court. Mattern, 45, of New Russia Township, signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to a number of felony criminal charges in two separate cases and is scheduled to be sentenced in October, according to the prosecutor's office and court records. "At that point, you'd think the victim could breathe a little easier," Leigh said in court. "But no, the defendant wasn't done." He "actively recruited two separate inmates" that investigators were able to identify at the Lorain County Jail to have his estranged wife killed, and sent a letter to a friend outside of jail "requesting that they kill (the victim)." "'I found out that I have a right to face my accuser, so if the victim and witness don't show up to court, then the case has to be thrown out,'" Leigh read from a letter sent by Fazio that was intercepted by authorities and led to the murder conspiracy charges. "'So with that being said, would you or someone you know be able to make the victim appear, like disappear like, forever? Well she doesn't actually have to disappear, she just has to stop living." "'I know that's a lot to ask of someone, but I'm desperate, bro,'" Fazio wrote, "'and if I can't make this happen my life is over. I'm not built for life in prison, bro. Please, please, please help me. If you are able to make this happen I have many things I can give you: My motorcycle, my truck, my house or cash.'" Aside from Fazio's rape and molestation convictions in December, between 1999 and 2017 he had eight felony convictions for multiple burglaries, breaking and entering, grand theft of a motor vehicle, theft, possession of criminal tools and other charges in both Ohio and Florida. In Florida, he was convicted of mutilation of a protected species and possession of alligator parts, Fazio admitted on the stand when he testified in his own defense at the rape trial. Fazio previously rejected a plea deal that would have allowed him to serve 30 years in prison concurrent to his life sentence. Following months of failed plea negotiations, there was no agreement on a sentence between the defense and prosecutors prior to Tuesday's hearing. Gabelman said Fazio will be in his 80s before he is eligible for parole. His first parole hearing will be in June 2065 when he is 84 years old, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction offender website. To be granted parole at that first hearing is "very unlikely, if not pretty much guaranteed not to happen," Gabelman said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. GET HELP If you are in a physically, emotionally or sexually violent relationship and need emergency assistance, call 911. You can also call Genesis House Lorain County Safe Harbor's 24-7 crisis hotlines at (440)-244-1853 or (440)-323-3400; the Ohio Domestic Violence Network at (800) 934-9840; or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233.