Former Berkshire Coach Gets 6 Months Jail
The Berkshire football and baseball coach who sent inappropriate Snapchat photos to a 17-year-old Berkshire student was sentenced to six months in the Geauga County jail, four years of community control and 15 years of Tier 1 sex offender requirements.
The Berkshire football and baseball coach who sent inappropriate Snapchat photos to a 17-year-old Berkshire student was sentenced to six months in the Geauga County jail, four years of community control and 15 years of Tier 1 sex offender requirements.
Nick Burzanko, 36, of Middlefield, who had pleaded guilty to pandering obscenity, a fifth-degree felony, was sentenced by Judge Matthew Rambo July 1 in Geauga County Common Pleas Court. Two other felony counts were dismissed.
Burzanko could have received up to a year in prison for the crime, which he pleaded guilty to May 9. Burzanko, who has no prior criminal record, was arrested in October and indicted in December.
“The sentence in this case reflects Mr. Burzanko’s early acceptance of his indiscretion,” his lawyer, Ian Friedman wrote via email. “Undoubtedly, his future conduct will prove that he should be judged by his life of greater and more positive contribution.”
After Burzanko was indicted in December, in the complaint: “The accused admitted that he did send the picture but thought that he was covering up his penis. The image was viewed and it was apparent that a portion of the accused’s penis was in the image and pornography was playing on the television in the background.”
Burzanko was a well known assistant football coach and eventually became the head baseball coach at Berkshire after he graduated Berkshire High School.
