Attack sends man to prison

Edward Grogg gets 50-year sentence in attempted homicide

A man who stabbed a transient and left him for dead has reformed himself, he said, but a judge found the redemption came too late to avoid prison for attempted homicide.

Edward Grogg, 27, was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison, with 20 suspended. His victim survived the attack, but has undergone four surgeries and suffers ongoing medical problems, according to court records.

Grogg and Jeremy Raskiewicz were arrested after Ralph Cisco, 45, was stabbed, beaten and burned with a frying pan March 25. Grogg reportedly said he was tired of Cisco threatening the younger men and stealing from them at the transient camp in Lawrence Park, where they all lived. Cisco said the conflict was because he had been shooting small animals.

After drifting in and out of consciousness for a day after the attack, Cisco managed to walk a few blocks to a business, where he collapsed. He was hospitalized with about five stab wounds, burns on his arm and chest, and beating injuries.

Raskiewicz was originally charged with accountability to attempted homicide; that charge was reduced to assault with a weapon. He is scheduled to stand trial next month.

In August, Grogg pleaded guilty to attempted deliberate homicide.

He has three prior nonviolent felony convictions and made a name for himself in the jail with a "hate-crime attitude," according to probation and parole officer Paul Parrish.

Grogg was housed with Joseph Aceto, who faces unrelated charges of attempted murder and kidnapping. In a letter to a relative, Grogg wrote: "We're both white-power guys." He referred in offensive ways to minorities in the jail and wrote about planning to attack a black man during church services.

"I can't wait for the kill," Grogg wrote.

Things have changed since he wrote that letter, he testified Thursday.

"I've been doing Bible studies." He is, he said, "a better man."

He acknowledged having an alcohol problem and "a lot of anger in me" at the time of his arrest. "I just didn't care," he said.

Grogg showed no remorse for Cisco, who has "basically become a recluse" out of fear that Grogg or his friends will hurt him again, Parrish said.

That has also changed, Grogg said.

If he had the chance, "I would tell [Cisco] how sorry I am. He doesn't have to fear for his life."

Cisco has undergone four surgeries, running up $56,000 in medical bills and still is not healthy, Parrish said.

"I know what I did was wrong," Grogg said. However, "I don't think I deserve that amount of time," he said about the recommended sentence of 50 years with 20 suspended.

Prosecuting Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski said he believes Grogg has transformed himself.

"I find his comments and his testimony authentic and genuine," he told District Judge Ted Lympus. But the seriousness of the attack calls for a serious penalty, he said.

"I make this recommendation with sadness," Guzynski said. "He will still get out [of prison] relatively young. Perhaps he will be reunited with his family someday."

Grogg's attorney, David Stufft, said Grogg "has come a long way in the past few months. He still has a long way to go."

He said Grogg "realizes what he did was a terrible deed. He is trying to get his life back by going to the Bible."

Lympus, too, saw hope for Grogg.

"It's been said that history is the best predictor of the future, but there are exceptions to that, and you may be one of them. … There appears to be a significant change in you."

But Lympus said his concern is "primarily the act that brings us here today.

"When you left the camp … you thought Mr. Cisco was dead."

He agreed with the sentencing recommendations by Guzynski and Parrish.

"There is still the opportunity for you to get your act together and pay the consequences that must be paid for this offense," Lympus said.

"Your destiny now is up to you."

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com.