Chico Sentencing...An Update

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Chico Enterprise-Record
October 28, 2005

Cuffed and jailed: Fraternity brothers sentenced after guilty pleas
in hazing death

By TERRY VAU DELL - Staff Writer
Chico Enterprise-Record

OROVILLE - The parents of Matthew Carrington say they hope jail terms
handed down to four Chico fraternity brothers - who pleaded guilty in
court Friday to the hazing death of their son - will help deter such
"irresponsible" acts in the future.

The deceased pledge's mother, Debbie Smith, said although "I know
that Matt's death was never intended, I hate that the last three days
of Matt's life were so torturous. ... My pain is so great that at
times I don't know how I'm going to make it." She told the defendants
through tears Friday.

In separate statements of remorse, the four convicted Chi Tau members
admitted that forcing Carrington to drink gallons of water while
performing rigorous exercises in a frigid basement as part of a "hell
night" initiation into the rogue fraternity was both "stupid and
dangerous."

Carrington, a 21-year-old Chico State University freshman, collapsed
Feb. 2 during the third and most strenuous night of the fraternity
rite and died about an hour later at a local hospital.

An autopsy determined the excessive water intake under such extreme
conditions caused his heart to stop.

It was at least the third fatal hazing case at Chico State in the
past decade, but the first case resulting in any felony convictions,
according to District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Before a phalanx of local and national news cameras in Butte County
Superior Court Friday, Ramsey condemned Carrington's death as
"madness" and said he hoped the jail terms will send a message to
other fraternities that engaging in any type of illegal hazing has
"serious consequences."

Besides sentences ranging from 90 days to one year in jail, the four
defendants, Gabriel John Maestretti, 22, Carlos James Devilla
Abrille, 22, Jerry Ming Lim, 25, and John Paul Fickes, 19, must
participate in an "anti-hazing outreach program" as a condition of
probation. They must also pay fines totaling up to $3,100.

Because one of their lawyers was facing a family emergency, court
proceedings were continued to Nov. 23 for two remaining
co-defendants, Trent Stiefvater, 20, and Richard Joseph Hirth, both
charged with misdemeanor hazing only.

The guilty pleas by the four felony suspects Friday averted a jury
trial that was scheduled to start Wednesday.

Tears flowed freely as relatives and close friends of the deceased
pledge, all wearing his favorite color red, and sporting buttons with
Matt Carrington's picture, remembered him fondly in court and
denounced the way he died.

"What really stinks about the situation is that Matt didn't choose to
die, these guys on trial right here made that decision for him," said
Andrew McPhee, a close friend of the victim.

Calling their actions "selfish and cowardly," McPhee said as bad as
the torture the fraternity members put Carrington through, what
bothers him more is "they let Matt die alone, by himself with no
concern over anyone's well-being other than their own."

Unable to get through his own written address, the deceased pledge's
stepfather, Greg Smith, had his cousin, Rich Smith, read it for him.

Describing the stepson he helped raise as "an example of everything
good in this world, "he said he had no qualms about him attending "a
party school" like Chico State.

"He knew how to have a good time, but how not to take it to excess,"
Carrington's stepfather noted.

"I do know one thing for sure," he told the judge, "these young men
that were in that house that night don't have an ounce of
responsibility or give a damn about anything but their Greek system.
... If they really gave a damn just one could have made a difference,
if they would have just stopped it, but they didn't, not one of them."

Michael Carrington, who has created a nonprofit foundation aimed at
bringing public awareness to combat all student-on-student violence,
was overcome with emotion as he described the "sense of
powerlessness" he felt when notified by police that his son was dead.

"The fact that all you are pleading guilty to your crime brings me no
comfort," he told the four fraternity members.

"I want you all to remember that you didn't just accidentally kill a
pledge; you killed Matthew William Carrington," the victim's father
added, sobbing.

Standing before an enlarged photo of a smiling Carrington taken on
his 21st birthday, Ramsey pointed to the 5-gallon water jug which
figured prominently in the Feb. 2. fraternity death.

"We will no longer accept the killing of our best and brightest in
some stupid, macho initiation test of manhood," the district attorney
said.

Ramsey explained afterward that the disparate sentences handed down
Friday reflected the varied level of involvement in Carrington's
death among the four fraternity brothers.

Maestretti, the "most culpable," in the prosecutor's view, pleaded
guilty as charged to involuntary manslaughter and hazing and
receiving the stiffest sentence - one year in jail. He also is barred
from using alcohol and must reside in a "clean-and-sober living
environment" when he gets out of jail.

Reading from a prepared statement, the heavyset Maestretti, who like
the other felony suspects had faced up to four years in prison if
convicted at trial, apologized to Carrington's family for his
actions. But he said he didn't feel he deserved their forgiveness.

"Hazing is not funny. It is not cute, It is stupid and dangerous,"
said Maestretti. "It is not about brotherhood, but about power and
control. ... My actions killed a good person," he acknowledged.

"I accept my punishment with the hope that it will serve as a warning
to others not to follow the path I did," the Chico fraternity member
added.

Similar written statements were read by Fickes, Abrille and Lim.

Lim, who at the time of Carrington's death was the Chi Tau "pledge
general" in overall charge of the fraternity initiation ritual,
agreed that "hazing is wrong. ... It demeans and humiliates people,
and as the tragedy of this case demonstrates, it can destroy lives,"
he told the courtroom.

While "nothing I can say here today will bring back Matthew
Carrington or lessen the grief that his family feels, I want them to
know that I will do whatever I can to inform others of the stupidity
and dangerousness of hazing," Lim added.

Both Fickes and Lim pleaded guilty Friday to a felony accessory
charge in addition to misdemeanor hazing and received identical
180-day jail sentences from Judge Stephen Benson. Like Maestretti,
they were also placed on five years formal probation.

Abrille, who Ramsey said had left during the night and may have
returned to the Chi Tau house after Carrington suffered the fatal
collapse, pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor hazing count. He was
sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years probation.

On Oct. 3, Chi Tau member Michael Fernandes drew a 30-day jail term
after entering a guilty plea to a single misdemeanor hazing count.

Kevin Sears, Ficke's attorney, called Friday's resolution "equitable."

He said all four of the defendants had had gone through the identical
initiation ritual and would never have put Carrington through it if
they thought it was dangerous.

Carrington's family also seemed in general agreement with the way the
high-profile hazing case was resolved.

"I only hope that this will prevent more such tragedies," said
Carrington's mother, who in recent weeks has given talks about the
dangers of hazing to one or more sororities in the Bay Area, where
she lives.

Though "not common," Ramsey said a similar water hazing ritual led to
the death of a fraternity pledge in Pennsylvania last year and may
have figured in at least two other student deaths.

The district attorney said he felt news footage of the four Chico
fraternity members being handcuffed and led off to jail Friday, is
the "best deterrent" against such hazing.

Among national media covering Friday's court sentence, was syndicated
TV show "Inside Edition," NBC's "Dateline" and National Public Radio.