Jason Harris and Michael Morton, two members of the Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at Florida A&M University, were each sentenced to two years in prison this evening by Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker.Jason Harris and Michael Morton, two members of the Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity at Florida A&M University, were each sentenced to two years in prison this evening by Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker.
It is the first sentencing under a new, stiffer Florida law on hazing that results in injuries.
"I hope it stops here," Dekker said. " I hope the message sent to your brothers is that this no hazing stuff is real."
Already suspended from FAMU, they faced up to a maximum of five years in prison.
"I hope somebody out there says these two guys got two years, it's just not worth it."
The hearing, which lasted four hours, was filled with emotional testimony from professors, family members, ministers and former university presidents, who pleaded for leniency. The crowd overflowed the courtroom.
Jurors in December found Harris and Morton guilty of hazing but deadlocked on three more Kappa Alpha Psi members also facing hazing charges. Those men, Brian K. Bowman, 23; Cory A. Gray, 23; and Marcus B. Hughes, 21, will be tried again in March.
The five were arrested April 10 after Marcus Jones, a former sophomore at Florida A&M University, said he was beaten during a series of Alpha Xi initiation sessions.
http://www.tdo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...NEWS/701290337
This is so incredibly sad.
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