Home News Tribune Online 10/1/07
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) … Two students charged with aggravating hazing in the binge-drinking death of a Rider University student have been accepted into a program that could keep their records clean and help them avoid prison sentences.
Dominic Olsen, 21, of Kenilworth, and Adriano DiDonato, 22, of Princeton, were allowed into the pretrial program on Monday by Superior Court Judge Mitchell Ostrer.
The men, both officers in Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, which has since been disbanded on campus, agreed to three years of probation, alcohol counseling, fines and penalties of about $200 each. If they do not meet those conditions, they could still face trials.
A third man who was charged in the case, 21-year-old Michael Torney of Randolph was not eligible for the pretrial program and turned down a plea deal from prosecutors. No trial date has been set for his case.
The tragedy began on March 28.
Gary DeVercelly, an 18-year-old fraternity pledge from Long Beach, Calif., drank most of a bottle of vodka over 25 minutes … about a shot every one to two minutes.
He had a heart attack and died from alcohol poisoning two days later.
The case got widespread attention largely because of the legal maneuvering that followed.
The three students were charged with aggravated hazing. So were two officials at the Lawrenceville university. They were believed to be the first ever indicted in the U.S. because of a student hazing death.
In August, charges against the administrators … Dean of Students Anthony Campbell and Director of Fraternity Life Ada Badgley … were dropped.
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