Two leaders of the now dissolved Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State will serve two to four months of jail time in the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Tuesday's sentencing comes seven years after the death of Timothy Piazza, who died after a hazing initiation with alcohol. Piazza fell down a flight of stairs and fraternity members delayed calling 911.
Brendan Young and Daniel Casey pleaded guilty to 14 counts of hazing and a single count of reckless endangerment back in July. Young served as president of the fraternity at the time. Casey was the vice president and pledge master.
Casey and Young were sentenced to two to four months in prison, followed by three years of probation. During that probation, neither are allowed to consume alcohol and both must serve community service time in Centre County.
They must also pay a $500 fine and restitution to the parents. That amount has yet to be decided.
Evelyn Piazza, the mother of Timothy Piazza, spoke to members of the press after the sentencing.
“Nothing brings Tim back. But I think it was important that jail be assessed so that future hazers will look at that and see that there are serious repercussions for hazing," Evelyn Piazza said. "You can’t just blame the system. Individuals are the ones that have actions.”
Jim Piazza, the father of Timothy Piazza, said he wanted Casey and Young to face involuntary manslaughter charges.
"There's no winners. But I saw it that despite the prior five judges dismissing so many of the other charges, which I disagree with, as we kind of heard today, I think Judge Marshall did a well reasoned, well thought out sentencing," Piazza said. "And, you know, I appreciate that he gave it the weight that it deserved."
Since Timothy Piazza's death, Jim and Evelyn Piazza have traveled across the nation to speak with other parents who have lost children to hazing.
“We have a lot of work to do in our son’s memory, and we just need other people to see what came of today," Jim Piazza said. "Because now, under the new law in Pennsylvania, it's a different ballgame.”
Piazza’s death led to the “Timothy Piazza Anti-Hazing Law,” which includes a felony-graded offense when there is serious injury or death. The Attorney General’s office says the defendants in this case could have been subjected to harsher penalties if that statute was in place at the time of the 2017 incident.
Last week, on what would have been Piazza’s 27th birthday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Stop Campus Hazing Act.” The bill requires schools to maintain a web page, updated twice a year, that shares information about student organizations disciplined for hazing. It now awaits action in the Senate.
The judge ordered Casey and Young to report to the Centre County Correctional Facility on Monday to begin their sentences.
