@@facebook=
@@
XENIA — A former Dayton and Miamisburg police officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for his role in convincing his girlfriend to shoot her husband.
Mark A. Roysdon, 47, pleaded guilty Tuesday in an emotionally charged hearing at a Greene County courtroom to a charge of third-degree felony inciting to violence for urging Leah Severt to shoot Charles “Ed” Severt with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver on Sept. 14, 2010.
Ed Severt was struck in the ear and shoulder, but survived. He said he only has limited use of his left arm and faces daily, chronic pain. “This is a life-changing event for me,” Ed Severt said. “Eighteen months is nothing for him.”
Prosecutors had recommended a 12-month sentence when Roysdon pleaded guilty in a plea deal Nov. 16, but Common Pleas Judge Michael A. Buckwalter was not beholden to that agreement. His attorney, Scott Ashelman, said Roysdon could have faced between nine and 36 months.
“A prison term is consistent with the purposes and principles of sentencing,” Buckwalter said. “The court further finds a combination of community control sanctions would demean the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and its impact on the victim.”
Given the chance to speak, Ed Severt talked about the stress of Roysdon’s affair with his then-wife had in the months before the shooting. Leah Severt hit her husband twice out of five shots she fired. Ed Severt said his now ex-wife pulled the trigger, but that it was Roysdon who provided the gun, taught her to shoot and told him, “I win” over the telephone when she held him at gunpoint.
“Through this whole thing, he had the opportunity — and he had the opportunity today to speak — and not once has this man said I’m sorry for my actions,” Ed Severt said.
“This man was worried about himself. He always has been. Maybe his family will have mercy on him; God may have mercy on him. I cannot, and I pray that the court will not, either.”
Instead of speaking, Roysdon had his attorney read a statement of mitigation. “Mark Roysdon is not a perfect person,” Ashelman said. “I supposed none of us really are. The bottom line is, though, he does have the capacity to understand and learn from his mistakes and not to repeat them.
“Mr. Roysdon is acutely aware of the pain caused by letting his passions getting the better of him. He understands that he has a penalty to pay for those actions and he is prepared to do so.”
After the hearing, Roysdon was handcuffed and led out by a sheriff’s deputy.
Ed Severt said Roysdon never kept his promises to end his affair with Leah Severt and that the former police officer would go home to his own wife after leaving Leah Severt’s Beavercreek apartment. “There’s a reason why he’s been dismissed from two different police departments,” Ed Severt said. “There’s a reason why he’s got three kids with his wife. He has three other kids with other women. He’s a scum bag. I’m sorry, that’s how I feel about the gentleman.”
Ashelman said Roysdon made mistakes and that he will learn from them.
“There were some things going on, some extramarital things happening there,” Ashelman said. “There was certainly plenty of drama involved in the situation. Those things will get out of hand. Unfortunately, he made some poor choices along the way that led him to where we are here.”
Leah Severt, 39, is serving a four-year prison sentence. She accepted a plea deal to reduced charges — two counts of felonious assault and one count of abduction — if she agreed to aid in the prosecution against Roysdon. Without the plea deal, Severt could have faced between six and 23 years in prison.
Authorities said Severt and Roysdon began their affair when they met while working at Dayton Children’s Medical Center. Roysdon was a security officer supervisor, and Severt was a nurse and administrator.
Ed Severt, 42, said he officially received notice of his divorce from Leah Severt on Sept. 14, 2011 — one year to the day after the shooting. The Severts have three children, including a daughter who is a minor, and a granddaughter.
Ed Severt has a personal injury civil lawsuit against his ex-wife and Roysdon. A Feb. 17 hearing is scheduled to decide on damages against his ex-wife.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author