GUILTY PA - Timothy Piazza, 19, Dies In Penn State Frat Hazing, 2 Feb 2017 *arrests*

[borndem]

Excellent comments all. I intend to continue to follow this one with all of you. These recent comments bring back all of my anger and sorrow. And yes, many of the brothers just considered Piazza a comedy show to watch, laugh, and have another drink. This poor boy -- the brothers knowingly or unknowingly just watched this young man's life slowly drain out of him, forever. This young man wouldn't wake up with only a hangover the next morning. He was gone from his life and his family forever.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Ryan Burke, the first frat brother sentenced in the case, apologized to the parents of Tim Piazza.

A judge sentenced him to three months of house arrest. The Judge also gave Burke 27 months of probation, fined him more than $3,000 and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.

Burke, 21, had pleaded guilty to four counts of hazing and five alcohol violations.

When Burke was first charged in November, he also was accused of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, but the attorney general's office dropped the most serious charges in April and a district judge subsequently dismissed some other counts.

Penn State frat member Ryan Burke gets house arrest in hazing death

 

[Safeguard]

"This was an accident that nobody wanted to happen," he told the judge. "It led to a tragic death." ~Burke's attorney~

Yeah, an "accident". You know, kinda like if you pushed someone into a pool, not knowing if they can swim or not, and when it turns out they can't, you stand there and watch them drown. And laugh, and party on. Hate those kind of "Accidental" deaths.

He left out the word "preventable". Even though Tim fell down the stairs, after drinking, his death was not caused by those initial injuries. He was death was caused by cruelty and indifference. A lack of medical attention, that he had no way of getting for himself, he was totally at the mercy of these thugs at that point. And they had none.

The sentence was more than I though it would be honestly though. I thought he might get off with a years probation, (or maybe even less), and a fine...

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

Most Serious Charges Dismissed In Penn State Frat Death Of Tim Piazza

A judge is dismissing the most serious charges filed in a pledge’s fatal injuries suffered inside a Penn State fraternity house.

District Judge Carmine Prestia on Friday dismissed charges including involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, saying the evidence is insufficient. But Prestia says six of the seven remaining defendants can be tried on less serious misdemeanor hazing charges.

Tampering, hindering apprehension and obstruction charges were dismissed against the seventh defendant. Two others previously pleaded guilty.

The seven Beta Theta Pi fraternity members were going through another hearing because a county judge reinstated charges previously dismissed by a district judge.
​

 

[JerseyGirl]

Judge orders trial for Niskayuna man in Penn State hazing death case

Braxton Becker, 22, learned this week that the Attorney General's office in Bellefonte had succeeded in convincing a judge -- who had previously tossed the case against Becker over concerns about how the camera system worked -- to send the case to trial.

Becker is accused of secretly deleting recordings made the night Timothy Piazza suffered fatal injuries in an alcohol-induced fall last year.

Three charges, all misdemeanors, will go forward: tampering with physical evidence, obstructing law enforcement and destroying evidence.

Becker served as the fraternity's house manager; he never faced hazing or other charges related to Piazza's death.

The latest attempt is the fourth for prosecutors to bring Becker to trial. Previous attempts ended in dismissals.

 

[borndem]

Yesssssssssss! Almost nothing is still better than nothing.

 

[frisson]

I agree. Absolutely disgusting and degrading. But I believe he was saying that there is no fatal harm involved in the elephant walk, which is gross, but better than the other activities that happen that can cause harm and fatalities.

emotional pain and humiliation can kill a person in another way.

 

[frisson]

Ryan Burke, the first frat brother sentenced in the case, apologized to the parents of Tim Piazza.

A judge sentenced him to three months of house arrest. The Judge also gave Burke 27 months of probation, fined him more than $3,000 and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.

Burke, 21, had pleaded guilty to four counts of hazing and five alcohol violations.

When Burke was first charged in November, he also was accused of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, but the attorney general's office dropped the most serious charges in April and a district judge subsequently dismissed some other counts.

Penn State frat member Ryan Burke gets house arrest in hazing death

so he participated in killing a person and got off easy. lesson learned.

 

[JerseyGirl]

One of three trials scheduled in the Penn State fraternity hazing case has been eliminated after a new round of guilty pleas by former Beta Theta Pi brothers.

Michael Fernandez, Brian Gelb, Donald Prior and Joseph Sala each pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, including hazing, bringing the total number of guilty pleas in the case to 13.

Fernandez, 24, of Yardley, Pa., pleaded guilty to one count of hazing for holding up a bag of wine for a pledge to chug from during the party in the fraternity's basement. Another count of hazing and two liquor code violations were dropped as part of the plea. Fernandez was sentenced to 12 months probation, 100 hours of community service and a $250 fine, plus costs of prosecution and supervision. He apologized and said he had matured since the case began.

Gelb, 20, of Bethesda, Md., pleaded guilty to one count of hazing and one liquor code violation for holding a wine bag for a pledge to chug. Multiple counts of hazing and liquor code violations were dropped as part of the plea. He also was among the second set of defendants charged in the case. Gelb was sentenced to 12 months probation, 100 hours of community service and $1,500 in fines, plus costs of prosecution and supervision.

Prior, 23, of Mayfield, pleaded guilty to one count of hazing and one liquor code violation for holding up a wine bag for one pledge to chug from and giving a beer to another. Three other counts of hazing and liquor violations were dropped. Prior was sentenced to 12 months probation, 100 hours of community service, $1,500 in fines and the costs of prosecution and supervision.

Sala, 20, of Erie, pleaded guilty to three counts of hazing and one county of conspiracy to commit hazing. Ten other counts of hazing, two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and two liquor code violations were dropped. Sala did not request to be sentenced immediately.

State College, PA - Four More Enter Guilty Pleas in Beta Theta Pi Case -

 

[JerseyGirl]

Daniel Casey and former fraternity president Brendan Young are scheduled for trial beginning April 3.

Braxton Becker, who is charged with tampering and obstruction, has a pre-trial conference scheduled for later this month.

State College, PA - Four More Enter Guilty Pleas in Beta Theta Pi Case -

Ryan Burke, Gary DiBileo, Joseph Ems, Patrick Jackson, Jonathan Kanzler, Aidan O'Brien Michael, Angelo Schiavone, Bo Han Song and Luke Visser previously pleaded guilty to various misdemeanor charges.

Ryan Foster, Ed Gilmartin, Reginald Goeke, Craig Heimer, Lars Kenyon and Parker Yochim were accepted into ARD programs.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jonah D. Neuman became the 14th defendant in the case to plead guilty to negotiated misdemeanor charges. He pleaded to three counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing.

The judge ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and scheduled sentencing for March 26.

Another Former Beta Theta Pi Brother Pleads Guilty In Hazing Case

Michael Bonatucci and Nicholas Kubera are scheduled to enter guilty pleas on Jan. 15, which would leave, for now, only Joshua Kurczewski as a defendant in a trial beginning Feb. 14

 

[borndem]

Thanks for the info, JerseyGirl -- "Money talks, b.s. walks" is still valid, I see. Good, expensive attys seem to nearly always get it done for their clients. Misdemeanor, schmisdemeanor. Hoping these crimes will stay on their records for the rest of their lives -- SMH. And that sweet, trusting, Tim Piazza is still gone, and his parents and other family members still have a hole in their hearts and they always will.
I guess I'm just a bit old-fashioned about "punishment fitting the crime." Cranky ol' lady that I yam.
Grrrrr.

 

[cybervampira]

Parents of Penn State fraternity pledge who died following drunken hazing ritual sue 28 frat members | Daily Mail Online

The parents of a Penn State sophomore who died two years ago after a night of drinking and hazing have sued 28 members of a shuttered fraternity and a security company hired to help enforce alcohol regulations.

Tim Piazza, 19, of Lebanon, New Jersey, died after drinking 18 alcoholic beverages in just under 90 minutes, as part of a hazing ritual while pledging Beta Theta Pi at Penn State.

Lawyers for Tim Piazza's parents announced the federal wrongful death lawsuit Friday and also disclosed they have reached a confidential monetary settlement with Penn State.

[...]

 

[borndem]

Thanks for the article, cybervampira. Good news for as much as can be done. I was hoping that Wrongful Death suits, plus whatever has been done, would be brought against the misdemeanants and the fraternity and the university. As we know, it doesn't bring him back, but perhaps it will make it less likely for it to happen again. SMH.

 

[CocoChanel]

I have family members very entrenched in the Greek life system, and they are predicting this aspect of the college experience will cease to exist in the near future. This tragic case is the tipping point they feel to permanently shuttering sorority and fraternity houses on campuses across the nation. The abuse has gotten so out of hand (in sororities it’s more in the form of emotional abuse - think “mean girls”), that the liabilities are just too great to take on. I have no dog in this fight, other than wanting our college students to have a safe, healthy and happy experience during their academic years. If closing fraternities and sororities helps reduce/eliminate these tragic events then I am in favor.

 

[borndem]

I have family members very entrenched in the Greek life system, and they are predicting this aspect of the college experience will cease to exist in the near future. This tragic case is the tipping point they feel to permanently shuttering sorority and fraternity houses on campuses across the nation. The abuse has gotten so out of hand (in sororities it’s more in the form of emotional abuse - think “mean girls”), that the liabilities are just too great to take on. I have no dog in this fight, other than wanting our college students to have a safe, healthy and happy experience during their academic years. If closing fraternities and sororities helps reduce/eliminate these tragic events then I am in favor.

Yes, you may be right. When I was in college, a member of Alpha Delta Pi, what I did with pledges was to send one or two of them to a frat house to get a signed picture of a frat brother -- always in the daytime. It gave them a chance to meet a frat guy and to have a fun errand. That's as tough as we got. Good fun, nobody hurt. We had no ideas of doing anything embarrassing or degrading or anything close to dangerous. SMH.
How did things get this way? In frats, even a couple of bruises would be more than enuff, IMO. Drinking is such a big part of life in frats -- it seems like it's a merit badge. But obviously, it can get just plain cruel and dangerous.
I went to a number of frat parties way back then, and the Housemother was there during all of them. Do frats have Housemothers any more?
We get a good thing and then just stomp it into the ground. Certainly not all frats and sororities are that way, but it only takes one to screw-up the whole thing.
Such a great tradition. I hate to see that it is in such danger.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Luke Visser, Joseph Sala, Joshua Kurczewski and Michael Bonattuci, former members of the Penn State chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, were sentenced on Tuesday.

All four had previously pleaded guilty to hazing-related charges stemming from the February 2017 death of 19-year-old sophomore Timothy Piazza.

Visser received two to six months in jail and three years of probation.

Sala was sentenced to three to 10 months of house arrest plus two years of probation.

Kurczewski received three to nine months in jail and one year of probation.

Bonatucci was sentenced to one to six months in jail plus one year of probation.

They also were ordered to pay fines and perform community service.

It’s the first time the judge has handed down jail sentences in the case.

Four Penn State fraternity brothers sentenced for pledge's hazing death | MyCentralOregon.com

 

[borndem]

Thanks for the report, JerseyGirl!

I guess a jot of jail time is better than none. Hoping that this horrible "frolic" of theirs will be like an invisible ball & chain which follows them for the rest of their lives.

They and their parents could have taken the high road on this just after it all happened, but no-o-o-o, they got their expensive attorneys and tried to slither out of that night's events. The victim's parents were then, and always will be, sick with grief and disbelief.

Say "Hello," to Karma, boys.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Pa. court refuses to void conviction of Penn State frat member accused of deleting video of pledge Timothy Piazza’s fatal fall
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pe...imothy-piazzas-fatal-fall.html?outputType=amp
Saying the evidence is solid, a state appeals court panel on Wednesday upheld the hindering apprehension conviction of a Penn State University fraternity member accused of deleting surveillance video crucial to the investigation of the February 2017 death of pledge Timothy Piazza.

The Superior Court ruling keeps in place the 2-year probation sentence and $5,000 fine a Centre County judge imposed on Braxton Becker after a jury convicted the New York man in 2019.

 

[zencompass]

Thanks for the report, JerseyGirl!

I guess a jot of jail time is better than none. Hoping that this horrible "frolic" of theirs will be like an invisible ball & chain which follows them for the rest of their lives.

They and their parents could have taken the high road on this just after it all happened, but no-o-o-o, they got their expensive attorneys and tried to slither out of that night's events. The victim's parents were then, and always will be, sick with grief and disbelief.

Say "Hello," to Karma, boys.

Their part in this will follow them though and will affect their careers - to some extent. (maybe not a lot).

Each time they apply for a position, their names will come up in the news articles when their background is screened.

They can't delete news articles - and there were hundreds of them.

This was such a deeply saddening crime against a young man. Just heart-wrenching.