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Man guilty in gas-and-dash death of Alberta gas station owner out on day parole

Jo was killed when Sydlowski sped off in a stolen cube van without paying for $198 of fuel
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Ki Yun Jo, the victim of a gas-and-dash robbery, is shown in an Alberta RCMP handout photo. (RCMP handout)

A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the gas-and-dash death of an Alberta gas station owner has been granted day parole.

Mitchell Robert Sydlowski, who is 31, was sentenced in September 2020 to seven years in prison for the death of 54-year-old Ki Yun Jo.

Documents released by the Parole Board of Canada show Sydlowski was granted day parole on March 31 at an unidentified community-based residential facility for six months.

Sydlowski must stay away from alcohol and drugs, isn’t allowed to drive and cannot contact the victim’s family.

An agreed statement of facts in the case said Jo was killed when Sydlowski sped off in a stolen cube van without paying for $198 of fuel.

It happened outside Jo’s Fas Gas station in Thorsby, about 70 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, on Oct. 6, 2017.

Sydlowski, who is from Spruce Grove, Alta., had been charged with second-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, as well as to failing to remain at the scene of a fatal accident.

His sentence had been reduced by about three years for time served before his guilty plea.

RELATED: Man sentenced to 7 years for gas-and-dash death of Alberta gas station owner