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| Fraternity Is Banned From Pennsylvania After Student’s Hazing Death | Fraternity Is Banned From Pennsylvania After Student’s Hazing Death |
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| STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Four years after the fatal hazing of a Baruch College freshman, the fraternity he was trying to join was banned by a state judge on Monday from operating in Pennsylvania for 10 years. The judge’s ruling came after prosecutors here pursued criminal charges against the fraternity and it was found guilty of aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter. | STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Four years after the fatal hazing of a Baruch College freshman, the fraternity he was trying to join was banned by a state judge on Monday from operating in Pennsylvania for 10 years. The judge’s ruling came after prosecutors here pursued criminal charges against the fraternity and it was found guilty of aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter. |
| Fraternities have rarely been prosecuted after the hazing death of a student, and experts described the sentencing as one of the most stringent punishments handed down in such a case. | Fraternities have rarely been prosecuted after the hazing death of a student, and experts described the sentencing as one of the most stringent punishments handed down in such a case. |
| The student, Chun Hsien Deng, had traveled in December 2013 from New York City to a rental house in the Poconos where he was supposed to finish the pledging process for Pi Delta Psi, an Asian-American fraternity. Early on a frigid morning, Mr. Deng — blindfolded and wearing a backpack weighted with sand — was tackled and pushed around by fraternity members before he fell unconscious, the authorities said. He was pronounced dead the next day. | The student, Chun Hsien Deng, had traveled in December 2013 from New York City to a rental house in the Poconos where he was supposed to finish the pledging process for Pi Delta Psi, an Asian-American fraternity. Early on a frigid morning, Mr. Deng — blindfolded and wearing a backpack weighted with sand — was tackled and pushed around by fraternity members before he fell unconscious, the authorities said. He was pronounced dead the next day. |
| “This has proved to be the most troubling case to me in 19 years,” Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington said while issuing her ruling on Monday, referring to the details of Mr. Deng’s death and her time as a judge. She also noted the danger posed by hazing, pointing out another case in Pennsylvania in which a 19-year-old student died last year after a “pledge night” of drunken partying. “You only need to look at Penn State these days to understand,” she said. | “This has proved to be the most troubling case to me in 19 years,” Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington said while issuing her ruling on Monday, referring to the details of Mr. Deng’s death and her time as a judge. She also noted the danger posed by hazing, pointing out another case in Pennsylvania in which a 19-year-old student died last year after a “pledge night” of drunken partying. “You only need to look at Penn State these days to understand,” she said. |
| The four fraternity members who faced some of the most serious charges — Kenny Kwan, Charles Lai, Raymond Lam and Sheldon Wong — were also sentenced on Monday. Mr. Kwan was sentenced to 12 months to 24 months in prison; Mr. Lam and Mr. Wong were sentenced to 10 to 24 months; and Mr. Lai was sentenced to 342 days to 24 months and released, taking into account time he had already served. Prosecutors, who had asked for more time, described the sentences as “disappointing.” | The four fraternity members who faced some of the most serious charges — Kenny Kwan, Charles Lai, Raymond Lam and Sheldon Wong — were also sentenced on Monday. Mr. Kwan was sentenced to 12 months to 24 months in prison; Mr. Lam and Mr. Wong were sentenced to 10 to 24 months; and Mr. Lai was sentenced to 342 days to 24 months and released, taking into account time he had already served. Prosecutors, who had asked for more time, described the sentences as “disappointing.” |
| Pi Delta Psi was also ordered to pay more than $110,000 in fines, and it was forbidden to operate in Pennsylvania as a condition of 10 years of probation imposed by the judge. The fraternity has one active chapter in Pennsylvania, at Penn State. The fraternity plans on appealing, arguing that prosecutors had unfairly conflated the actions of individual members with those of the national fraternity. Prosecutors had described the rituals Mr. Deng had participated in as widely used by the fraternity, but Wieslaw Niemoczynski, the fraternity’s lawyer, said on Monday that the brutality of the hazing Mr. Deng faced was a “deviation and departure” from the usual ritual. | |
| The fraternity, in a statement issued after the sentencing, described Mr. Deng, who went by Michael, as “the type of pledge who would likely become a model fraternity brother.” Its members “feel shame and dishonor that fraternity brothers could be so callous and inhumane,” the fraternity said. | The fraternity, in a statement issued after the sentencing, described Mr. Deng, who went by Michael, as “the type of pledge who would likely become a model fraternity brother.” Its members “feel shame and dishonor that fraternity brothers could be so callous and inhumane,” the fraternity said. |
| The case has been noted as an example of prosecutors increasingly taking a more aggressive stance in pursuing criminal charges after college students are killed while being hazed. But in Mr. Deng’s case, prosecutors took the unusual measure of charging the fraternity, which has had mixed results in previous cases. | The case has been noted as an example of prosecutors increasingly taking a more aggressive stance in pursuing criminal charges after college students are killed while being hazed. But in Mr. Deng’s case, prosecutors took the unusual measure of charging the fraternity, which has had mixed results in previous cases. |
| The men sentenced on Monday had initially been charged with third-degree murder, but they pleaded guilty in May to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and hindering apprehension. | The men sentenced on Monday had initially been charged with third-degree murder, but they pleaded guilty in May to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and hindering apprehension. |
| They were among 37 people, as well as the fraternity, who faced various charges. Most of the others have been sentenced, facing penalties that, the authorities said, ranged from six months to five years of probation. The fraternity was acquitted of the murder charge in November. | They were among 37 people, as well as the fraternity, who faced various charges. Most of the others have been sentenced, facing penalties that, the authorities said, ranged from six months to five years of probation. The fraternity was acquitted of the murder charge in November. |
| “Mike is my only son and only child, and the truth that he is gone can’t be erased or wiped away no matter how hard I try,” Mr. Deng’s mother, Mary Deng, said in a statement submitted to the court. “I feel like I have no big words to explain this. How can somebody treat another person’s life like this? Like it’s a joke? My husband and I spent 18 years raising Michael to be a good person, a good son. And in a single night, all those years are suddenly gone.” | “Mike is my only son and only child, and the truth that he is gone can’t be erased or wiped away no matter how hard I try,” Mr. Deng’s mother, Mary Deng, said in a statement submitted to the court. “I feel like I have no big words to explain this. How can somebody treat another person’s life like this? Like it’s a joke? My husband and I spent 18 years raising Michael to be a good person, a good son. And in a single night, all those years are suddenly gone.” |
| Mr. Deng, an 18-year-old from Queens, collapsed while taking part in a ritual known as the “glass ceiling,” a gantlet meant to represent the plight of Asian-Americans, where pledges wore the backpack and blindfold as they were confronted by fraternity members. He was the most defiant of the pledges, riling other members by resisting and not following their orders, according to a grand jury report released in 2015. The others reacted forcefully, knocking him to the ground, and one of them ran toward him from 15 feet away with his head lowered, the report said. | Mr. Deng, an 18-year-old from Queens, collapsed while taking part in a ritual known as the “glass ceiling,” a gantlet meant to represent the plight of Asian-Americans, where pledges wore the backpack and blindfold as they were confronted by fraternity members. He was the most defiant of the pledges, riling other members by resisting and not following their orders, according to a grand jury report released in 2015. The others reacted forcefully, knocking him to the ground, and one of them ran toward him from 15 feet away with his head lowered, the report said. |
| The members carried him inside; Mr. Deng’s body was stiff and his breathing became labored. They changed his clothes and tried unsuccessfully to revive him. Some of them used their phones to search phrases like “concussion can’t wake up,” the report said. | The members carried him inside; Mr. Deng’s body was stiff and his breathing became labored. They changed his clothes and tried unsuccessfully to revive him. Some of them used their phones to search phrases like “concussion can’t wake up,” the report said. |
| One of the fraternity members later told investigators, according to the report, they had resisted calling for an ambulance because they had looked up the cost and thought it was expensive. A national fraternity official told members over the phone to hide anything bearing the fraternity’s logo, the report said. About an hour later, Mr. Deng was driven to a hospital, where doctors found that he had sustained severe head trauma and his body was badly bruised. | One of the fraternity members later told investigators, according to the report, they had resisted calling for an ambulance because they had looked up the cost and thought it was expensive. A national fraternity official told members over the phone to hide anything bearing the fraternity’s logo, the report said. About an hour later, Mr. Deng was driven to a hospital, where doctors found that he had sustained severe head trauma and his body was badly bruised. |
| On Monday, in tearful statements in court and in sentencing memorandums submitted to the judge, the men expressed their remorse, describing how guilt has hung over their lives. | On Monday, in tearful statements in court and in sentencing memorandums submitted to the judge, the men expressed their remorse, describing how guilt has hung over their lives. |
| “This is something I regret and wish I could take back for Michael,” Mr. Kwan said, sniffling repeatedly as he addressed the judge. | “This is something I regret and wish I could take back for Michael,” Mr. Kwan said, sniffling repeatedly as he addressed the judge. |
| They also recounted stalled education and career plans, frayed relationships and, for one, a “downward spiral” that included drug abuse and an attempted suicide. In Mr. Wong’s memorandum, friends and co-workers said the “tragedy has devastated him,” with “the weight of what happened still very much crushing him inside.” | They also recounted stalled education and career plans, frayed relationships and, for one, a “downward spiral” that included drug abuse and an attempted suicide. In Mr. Wong’s memorandum, friends and co-workers said the “tragedy has devastated him,” with “the weight of what happened still very much crushing him inside.” |
| “In that moment, I wasn’t there for Mike,” Mr. Wong said in his memorandum. “I see it over and over in my head. I should have called it off, stopped Kenny before the last tackle, gotten him to the hospital sooner. I never wanted anything like this to happen. Mike was my friend and I let him down and now he’s gone. And I have to live every day knowing that it’s me, it’s my fault.” | “In that moment, I wasn’t there for Mike,” Mr. Wong said in his memorandum. “I see it over and over in my head. I should have called it off, stopped Kenny before the last tackle, gotten him to the hospital sooner. I never wanted anything like this to happen. Mike was my friend and I let him down and now he’s gone. And I have to live every day knowing that it’s me, it’s my fault.” |