Ex-leaders of Penn State frat sentenced in 2017 hazing death of Timothy Piazza

Ex-leaders of Penn State frat sentenced in 2017 hazing death of Timothy Piazza Brendan Young, 28, and Daniel Casey, 27, were sentenced to two to four months in prison, followed by three years of probation and community service. Brendan Young, 28, and Daniel Casey, 27, were sentenced Tuesday in Centre County Court to two to four months in prison followed by three years of probation and community service, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors said the charges were tied to a 2017 hazing incident when 19-year-old Timothy Piazza was found unresponsive after consuming large amounts of alcohol and “died days later as a result of multiple falls incurred subsequent to his intoxication.” The two former fraternity leaders participated in and facilitated the hazing, according to prosecutors. Young was president of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and Casey was vice president and pledge master at the time. Young and Casey were the final two criminal defendants to be sentenced in the case, in which more than two dozen fraternity members were initially charged − some of them with involuntary manslaughter. The case also sparked widespread outrage over frat culture and the problem of hazing rituals on college campuses, resulting in school policy reforms and a national anti-hazing campaign supported by Piazza’s family. “Our thoughts are with the Piazza family and everyone affected by this tragedy,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. Piazza, an engineering student from New Jersey, died at a hospital on Feb. 4, 2017, two days after a hazing event at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house. On the evening of Feb. 2, security cameras at the fraternity recorded Piazza drinking large quantities of alcohol, including vodka and beer, as part of one of the fraternity’s initiation rituals, known as “The Gauntlet.” At one point during the event, the report said, Piazza was on a couch, and fraternity members put a backpack full of books on his back to keep him from rolling over and choking on his vomit. Piazza later fell down a flight of stairs at the fraternity house, but members did not seek medical treatment for him until the next morning, according to the report. Investigators determined that Piazza consumed at least 18 drinks in under two hours, and a doctor calculated that his blood-alcohol content when he fell down a flight of stairs was .28% to .36% − about four times the legal limit for driving. Doctors concluded that Piazza suffered multiple traumatic brain injuries, including a fractured skull and a lacerated spleen. Piazza died as a result of “extremely reckless conduct” by fraternity members, aided by the permissive atmosphere fostered by Penn State’s Interfraternity Council, the grand jury found. Prosecutors said the Piazza family was “instrumental” in the Pennsylvania Legislature passing the Timothy J. Piazza Anti–Hazing Law, which established stricter punishments for hazing and requires schools to maintain anti-hazing policies. Piazza is remembered through the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that helps “children and adults who need prosthesis” and funds scholarships for Hunterdon Central High School students. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/10/02/penn-state-frat-hazing-death-timothy-piazza/75474802007/