Ex-frat leaders sentenced to jail after sophomore, 19, died in hazing incident
Two former frat leaders received jail sentences on Tuesday (October 1) after a sophomore died following an extremely boozy session.
Timothy Piazza was taking part in challenges to be accepted into the frat house Beta Thea Pi, which was at The Pennsylvania State University.
On February 2, 2017, he was one of 14 students pledging to become a part of the frat house.
The first night, which began at around 9pm, saw Timothy take part in 'the gauntlet', seeing him down a bottle of vodka equivalent to 40 shots.
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On top of that, the sophomore also sank some beers and red wine too.
However, it wasn't actually the excessive alcohol that killed Timothy, but rather the series of accidents that happened after.
While under the influence of alcohol, Timothy fell down the stairs to the basement, and was later captured on CCTV being carried back upstairs by multiple Beta brothers.
The group lay the unconscious teen on the sofa and left him, before the 19-year-old woke up and fell down the stairs again.
Footage captured members of the frat house picking up the teen once more, and leaving him on the couch instead of calling 911 or taking him to hospital themselves.
Incredibly, the frat house Googled head injury symptoms rather than seeking immediate care for unconsciousTimothy.
The next day, he was taken to hospital, where he died.
28-year-old Brendan Young - who was the president of Beta Theta Pi back then - plead guilty to 14 counts of hazing and a single count of reckless endangerment back in July.
The former vice president of the group, Daniel Casey, 27, issued the same guilty plea.
The pair were sentenced in Centre County Court to two four-month imprisonments on Tuesday.
That will be followed by three years of probation and community service, while each will be able to take work release.
Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement: "Our thoughts are with the Piazza family and everyone affected by this tragedy. Nothing can undo the harm Tim suffered seven years ago — nothing can bring Tim back to his family and friends."
The two frat house leaders are the last two criminal defendants to be sentenced in the long-running hazing case.
Timothy's parents have previously issued a warning to college students and parents about the dangers of hazing.
Warning about frat life, Jim and Evelyn Piazza said on Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life that parents should make sure their kids know 'how important they are, how much you love them, how they are not invincible, how you trust them, but that other people do bad things'.
Callum Jones