21 SPE/Wake pig abusers now "hauling trash and scooping poop."

[hoosier]

21 SPE/Wake pig abusers now "hauling trash and scooping poop."
October 31, 2002
Students plead guilty in pig neglect at party
Community service, apology part of deal

By Michael Biesecker
JOURNAL REPORTER


Twenty-one Wake Forest University students pleaded guilty yesterday to charges stemming from an incident last April involving a pig found sunburned, dehydrated and smelling of alcohol in Tanglewood Park.

Twenty-one students, all members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, agreed to several detailed conditions in a deal with prosecutors that will allow them to avoid criminal prosecution.

The cases against two other people - Andrew G. Smith, the fraternity's former president, and Christopher J. Kehres, the former vice president - were dismissed after prosecutors determined that they were not actively involved in obtaining the pig.

"This is a good deal for the state," said Tom Keith, Forsyth County's district attorney. "It was a stupid, unthinking act, but I don't think there was any intention of cruelty."

The case of the 200-pound hog, now known as Famous Amos, received international media attention when the pig was found in a ditch the morning after a frat party at a picnic shelter in the county-owned park.

Offiicals with Tanglewood and animal control had said that the pig was drunk, but prosecutors said yesterday that no physical evidence of the animal being intoxicated was collected.

The pig was purchased from a livestock dealer in Burlington and taken to the park as a prop for a party with a barnyard theme. According to prosecutors, the pig was kept in a ladies restroom until it was discovered during the party by a park security guard, who ordered the fraternity members to remove the animal.

What happened next is disputed. Some of the students said that the pig was intentionally released into the woods. Others said that the pig escaped and ran off.

"I don't know where all these boys are from, but it sounds like a bunch of Yankees who thought a pig is a wild animal that could forage for itself," Keith said.

The hog quickly recovered from the incident and now lives on a Yadkin County farm.

After a brief investigation, the fraternity members who had contributed money to buy the hog were charged with abandoning a pig and allowing livestock to run at large - misdemeanors under the state's animal-cruelty statutes that carry a combined maximum penalty of 80 days in jail.

Under the deal reached with prosecutors, the students will enter a supervised deferred-prosecution program for six months and agree to fulfill a number of requirements:

• They will each perform 50 hours of community service at the Forsyth County Animal Shelter.

• They will each write a typed, 10-page essay about animal cruelty.

• They will each write a letter of apology to Tanglewood Park.

• They will attend a meeting with members of the university community to discuss the responsible care of animals.

• They will each pay a $100 fee within 60 days.

If the students fulfill the conditions of the agreement by April 29 of next year and are not charged with any other criminal act, the charges against them will be dismissed and their record erased upon request.

If any student fails to fulfill his obligations, the deal will be voided and he will automatically be sentenced for the charges.

An agreement was also reached between attorneys for the various students and WFU, making certain that the university will not impose any further punishment. In May, school officials suspended the fraternity's charter for three years, prohibiting Sigma Phi Epsilon from holding activities on campus and from recruiting new members.

"We consider the matter settled, as long as they meet the conditions of the deferred prosecution," Kevin Cox, a WFU spokesman, said in a written response. "The university looks forward to working with our students to assure a meaningful appreciation of the significance and import of their actions."

Keith said yesterday that it was the threat of suspension from the university, as well as the forfeiture of the current semester's tuition, that probably motivated the students to agree to the deal.

If the case had gone to trial, prosecutors would have been hamstrung by the absence of the animal-control officer who investigated the case.

Deputy Scott A. Townsend was fired July 5 after a judge said that he provided "an unbalanced and inaccurate version of facts" to obtain a search warrant in an unrelated case. Town-send's dismissal would probably have helped the students' defense attorneys.

"Our witness wasn't here, and we didn't have a case," Keith said. "This is a phenomenal result for the state. We would have had to dismiss the charges otherwise."

Though the case was handled by an assistant district attorney, Keith was in court carrying a thick folder containing copies of more than 300 letters and e-mail messages from around the world, urging him to push for the harshest sentences possible. He said that the deal reached with the students resulted in stiffer penalties than likely would have been imposed in a typical animal-cruelty case.

Though some courtroom observers said that the students got off easy, Barbara Cassidy, the director of Forsyth County Animal Control, said she is looking forward to the students performing the required hours of community service at her shelter.

"We'll keep them busy," Cassidy said. "We'll have them hauling trash and scooping poop."

The students who signed the deal are: Alfred L. Bingham Jr., Matthew R. Chappell, Jonathon D. Copp, Dennis J. Delaney, Jasdeep S. Dhaliwal, James D. Miller Jr., David C. Forster, Kevin C. Gaskins, Scott A. Gibson, Winston T. Harris, Michael F. Mangold, Jon C. Nylund, Robert P. Perkins, Adam Piegari, Evan E. Sarti, Mark R. Skeith, Christopher M. Sobey, David F. Sontheimer, Keith T. Stanley, Bryan J. Stephens and Ethan G. Walter