“So, my brother went to prison for 10 years and I thought, OK, he won’t embarrass us anymore. He has been an embarrassment to us since the 80s.” – Jeff Rosebrook
Carl “Jeff” Rosebrook apologized Sept. 30 to the family and friends of Daniel E. Ott for his role in the 2006 mistaken-identity murder orchestrated by his brother, Joseph.
“My family does not condone what my brother did and we are all very sorry for your tragic loss,” defense counsel Ian Friedman said, reading from a written statement Jeff had prepared. “We will carry the weight of his shame for the rest of our lives.”
The 58-year-old Jeff Rosebrook, who is a Perry Township trustee in Logan County, pleaded guilty last Friday to first-degree misdemeanor obstruction of justice as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Prosecutors believe he was the alleged moneyman in his brother’s botched murder-for-hire plot. His case was scheduled to go to trial in Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry’s courtroom on Oct. 11.
With Jeff’s guilty plea, all five people charged in the May 26, 2006, murder of Daniel E. Ott inside his Burton Township home have either pleaded guilty or been convicted by a judge or jury.
“Although I was not involved with the underlying conspiracy or related offenses, I do understand my conduct impeded legitimate law enforcement efforts to investigate this case in a timely manner,” Jeff said in his statement. “In hindsight, I was not entirely candid with law enforcement and now understand that this may and did, in fact, impede their investigation. I accept full responsibility for my actions and completely remorseful for any resultant harm or inconvenience.”
Jeff told Fuhry he has always tried to set a good example for his family and community by living a productive and law-abiding life.
“I have not been in any trouble before and I can assure you that I will not find myself in a similar predicament in the future,” he wrote. “I am committed to putting this incident behind me. I hope that the family can start to receive closure in this matter as well.”
After Friedman finished reading Jeff’s statement, Jeff stood up and apologized directly to Daniel E. Ott’s parents, Leroy and Linda.
“It is hard to believe that my brother participated in a crime this bad,” Jeff said. “The rest of our family, we are working class people. Joe lived a different lifestyle than the rest of the family and he has been an embarrassment for our family for several years. And this here is just an unbelievable embarrassment.”
He told the family he could not imagine what they have gone through losing their son, especially at the hands of his brother.
“And that weighs heavy,” he said. “I have to live with that and my family has to live with that for the rest of our lives.”
Jeff reiterated he had nothing to do with their son’s murder.
“So, my brother went to prison for 10 years and I thought, OK, he won’t embarrass us anymore,” said Jeff. “He has been an embarrassment to us since the 80s.”
He added, “I handled some money of his for his commissary and that is all. And this is where I end up by taking care of his commissary and giving money to his kids, and I regret that. I am deeply sorry.”
Leroy Ott seemingly accepted Jeff’s apology.
“Thank you for your comments,” he uttered.
Fuhry accepted Jeff’s change of plea and agreed to proceed directly to sentencing. He ordered Jeff to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs, but did not impose a jail sentence, in accordance with the terms of the parties’ plea agreement.
Ohio Assistant Attorney General Paul Scarsella admitted to Fuhry the plea deal was an “unusual reduction” of the indicted charges of conspiracy, aggravated murder and kidnapping.
However, based on the state’s investigation and what occurred in the other related cases, Scarsella said prosecutors believed circumstances were different now than when the indictment was filed in 2015.
The special prosecutor added Jeff successfully passed several polygraph tests, so the state felt Jeff’s plea appropriately reflected his conduct.
On Oct. 6, Fuhry will sentence Joe Rosebrook to prison after a jury found him guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy.
Prosecutors successfully argued Joe wanted to kill a 69-year-old career car thief named Daniel C. Ott who he thought he had hired to murder Curtis Frazier, a business associate in a stolen car parts ring who was providing information to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office about his activities.
Instead, Daniel C. Ott turned state’s evidence against Joe, sending him to prison for 10 years for the attempted murder-for-hire plot.
While in London Correctional Institution, Joe recruited and hired fellow inmate South, a convicted thief, to kill the new name atop his hit list: Daniel C. Ott.
South was allegedly told to get in touch with Jeff Rosebrook once he got out of prison to get paid — $10,000 up front and $10,000 once the job was done — and to find out where the “snitch” lived among other information.
South traveled to Geauga County in late May 2006 with two other people and murdered Daniel E. Ott inside the Burton Township home he shared with his girlfriend, Maryann Ricker.
Daniel E. Ott, a greenhouse worker who grew up in Vermilion, was days away from moving to Grand Rapids, Mich., to start a new job.
Prosecutors argued South realized he was in the wrong home and had the wrong Daniel Ott, so he bound him with duct tape and attempted to leave. But Daniel was able to free himself and confronted South. A scuffle ensued and Daniel was shot in the chest with a shotgun.
South was convicted in May of the murder and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.
The other people in the car, Mindie Mock Stanifer and Alva Jacobs, pleaded guilty to their involvement in the crimes and were sentenced to 18 years in prison and 30 days in jail, respectively.
