BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – The former president and vice president of a Penn State fraternity where pledge Timothy Piazza fell and later died after consuming a large amount of alcohol was jailed Tuesday.
Brendan Young, 28, president of the now-defunct chapter of Beta Theta Pi in 2017, and Daniel Casey, 27, vice president and pledge master, were sentenced in Center County Court to two to four months behind bars. with a probation period of three years and community service. Everyone is eligible for work release.
Young and Casey both pleaded guilty in July to 14 counts of hazing and a single charge of reckless endangerment, all felonies. They were the last two criminal defendants to be convicted in a case that prompted Pennsylvania lawmakers to crack down on hazing.
They were ordered to report to the Center County Correctional Facility on Monday.
“Our thoughts are with the Piazza family and everyone affected by this tragedy,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. “Nothing can undo the damage Tim suffered seven years ago, nothing can bring Tim back to his family and friends.”
Messages seeking comment were left with Young's attorney, Julian Allatt, and Casey's attorney, Steven Trialonis.
Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, and 13 other pledges tried to join the fraternity the night Piazza drank at least 18 drinks in less than two hours. Security camera footage documented Piazza's excruciating final hours, including a fall down the basement stairs that required others to carry him back up. He showed signs of severe pain as he spent the night on a first-floor couch.
It took hours before help was called. Piazza suffered serious head and abdominal injuries and died in a hospital.
More than two dozen members of the fraternity faced various charges at one point. More than a dozen pleaded guilty to hazing and alcohol violations, while a smaller number participated in a diversion program designed for first-time, non-violent offenders.
Prosecutors were unable to get more serious charges — including involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault — approved by judges.
Penn State banned the fraternity. Pennsylvania state lawmakers have passed legislation making the most serious forms of hazing a crime, requiring schools to enforce anti-hazing policies and allowing the seizure of fraternity houses where hazing has occurred.
Had that statute been in effect at the time of Piazza's death, the defendants would have faced harsher sentences, the attorney general's office said.
