MOUNT VERNON – In a case stemming from an alleged robbery attempt for money to buy drugs, 28-year-old defendant Caleb Sarge received the maximum sentence of life with no possibility of parole for 21 years in the 2019 death of John Serio, 41.
Judge Richard Wetzel of the Knox County Common Pleas Court handed down the sentence on Thursday. A jury had found Sarge guilty of the November 2019 crime last month after a four-day trial with some 17 witnesses and nearly 100 pieces of evidence.
Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville told the Mount Vernon News that the minimum sentence for murder is life imprisonment without parole for 15 years. He said charges involving the use of a gun and evidence tampering increased the penalty.
Although many trials for drug crimes are difficult due to the volume of evidence, this one was more so.
"Well, obviously, a homicide case is way more difficult than your garden variety drug case because you've got so many witnesses that need to be there," McConville said. "And this has been pending since November of 2019. So it took quite a while to get it wrapped up."
McConville said the case involved "96 or 97" pieces of evidence presented to the jury.
Sarge allegedly told police when he was arrested that Serio had come to him for money to buy drugs, but Sarge refused.
Things escalated from there, McConville said, leading to the altercation.
Caleb Sarge's Facebook profile, which has not been updated since Nov. 25, 2019, lists him as the owner/operator of Sarge's Janitorial Services and a Cape Coral, Fla., native.
Members of the Serio family gave impact statements in court during the sentencing phase, McConville said.
"Two of them spoke, one of them had a written statement that was read into the record," he said. "(The maximum sentence) doesn't make up for what they've gone through, but it's what the justice system provides."
