Five Given Deferred Sentences, Probation
April 26, 2005
Five former University of Colorado Chi Psi fraternity brothers have entered guilty pleas to providing the alcohol that killed a pledge at the Boulder, Colo., frat house last September.
The five, Austin Brooks, 20, Frank Darden, 19, Thomas Tankersley, 20, Patrick Wall, 21, and Alan Williams, 20, were given deferred sentences Monday, along with community service for their part in the alcohol-poisoning death of freshman Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr.
Bailey was found dead in the Boulder frat house the morning after he and 26 other pledges participated in an initiation rite in which they were given bottles of whiskey and wine and told to drink it all.
The five men pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of providing alcohol to a minor. Each of them will have to perform 100 hours of community service as part of their sentence.
The 84-year-old Chi Psi CU chapter was shut down indefinitely shortly after Bailey's death. Chi Psi policy prohibits the use of alcohol during an initiation ceremony.
CU officials had urged national Chi Psi leaders to close the Boulder chapter, due to a "history of difficulties" with the chapter. The Chi Psi national board made the decision after it learned that the CU chapter had violated policies on the night of Bailey's death and that it had previous university violations, brought up during the investigation.
A criminal investigation into Bailey's death resulted in a dozen tickets being issued to fraternity brothers in February. Seven more brothers have court dates scheduled in May.
They are Brett Herter, 19, Christopher Jones, 21, John Guido, 20, William Percy, 19, Matthew Goode, 21, Charles Denison, 20, and Daniel Rosenberg, 21.
The University of Colorado would not comment on any possible disciplinary action taken against those charged or who plead guilty, citing confidentiality laws.
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5 CU frat members' sentences deferred
By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
April 27, 2005
BOULDER - Five fraternity members have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the initiation rite that ended in the death of freshman Lynn Gordon "Gordie" Bailey last fall.
Under a plea agreement, the five, who pleaded guilty Monday, each received one-year deferred sentences from County Court Judge David Archuleta.
Pleading guilty to providing alcohol to a minor, a class 2 misdemeanor, were Austin Brooks, 20, Frank Darden, 19, Thomas Tankersley, 20, Patrick Wall, 21, and Alan Williams, 20.
The five were leaders of the University of Colorado's Chi Psi chapter that held the Sept. 16 event for 27 pledges in the woods near Gold Hill, west of Boulder. Bailey, 18, died early the following day of alcohol poisoning.
The Chi Psi chapter was disbanded three weeks later by the fraternity's national board.
In addition to being under the supervision of the probation department for one year, they will have to perform 100 hours of community service. A community panel will decide the kind of service each student will perform, according to the agreement. Bailey's parents, Michael and Leslie Lanahan of Dallas, will be invited to take part in the panel.
Leslie Lanahan, who declined to comment on the sentence, said Tuesday the couple had not decided whether to participate.
Seven other Chi Psi members have court dates next month.
A document filed with the judge by the district attorney's office as part of the sentencing process blamed the "culture of the fraternity" for Bailey's death.
"It is apparent from the interviews conducted with current fraternity members that the amount of alcohol consumed at the fraternity house by fraternity members on any given weekend is extraordinary," said the document by Chief Deputy District Attorney John Pickering.
Pickering wrote that the alcohol bill for the brunch before the CU game against Colorado State University last fall was $800. Bills of $1,500 for Friday night parties were "not unusual."
Forensic evidence suggests Bailey chugged between 31 and 36 ounces of 80-proof whiskey during the 30-minute initiation rite, Pickering wrote.
But the evidence also indicates that the 27 pledges were not pressured to drink. Some pledges did not drink, and alcohol was left over at the end of the event, Pickering wrote.
After the event, the pledges were driven back to Boulder, where Bailey passed out on the couch at the fraternity house. He never regained consciousness.
morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303 442-8729