23-year old Ryan Chizek of Chadron, serving 21-to-35 years in prison on 4 convictions for having sex with underage girls, has struck out on his attempt to have his sentences run at the same time instead of one after the other.

Dawes County District Judge Travis O’Gorman ruled Tuesday after a hearing that Chizek attended by phone from the state prison in Lincoln that he did not have the authority to change Chizek’s sentence from 4 consecutive 58-to-60 month terms to 4 concurrent terms.

The change would have made Chizek eligible for parole this year. With O’Gorman’s ruling, he’s not eligible until 2020.

Chizek was convicted in 2010 on one count of 1st degree sexual assault of a minor and 3 counts of 3rd degree sexual assault of a minor, but one of the latter counts was overturned on technical grounds.

Chizek eventually pled no contest to an amended charge of attempted 1st degree sexual assault of a minor and received the same sentence.

He offered multiple grounds for his motion to make the sentences concurrent, saying he’s a different person because of counseling and other programs he’s taken while in prison.

He also argued that multiple charges should not have been brought because all 4 were the result of a single pattern of behavior even though they involved 4 different girls who were between 11 and 15 when they had sex with Chizek.

He was 19 at the time and under Nebraska law, it’s illegal for someone 19 or older to have sex with a partner 16 or under…regardless of consent, which all 4 girls emphatically said they gave.

Judge O’Gorman is the third judge to hear Chizek case. The now-retired Brian Silverman presided over the trial while Judge Randy Lippstreu handled the amended charge and sentence.

Judge Silverman called Chizek a “person who preys upon young girls” that perhaps even prison programs couldn’t help stop being a pedophile.