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A former member of a University of Missouri fraternity has pleaded guilty in the hazing of another student that caused blindness and significant brain damage.
Ryan P. Delanty of Manchester, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday in Boone County to supplying liquor to a minor and misdemeanor hazing, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a six-month jail sentence followed by six months of house arrest. Sentencing is May 24.
According to court documents, Delanty gave a bottle of vodka to then 19-year-old Daniel Santulli of Eden Prarie, Minnesota, during an October 2021 “Pledge Dad Reveal” at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
Santulli was later found in cardiac arrest inside a car at University Hospital in Columbia.
Authorities said his blood alcohol content was 0.486, which is more than six times the legal limit.
A university police investigation found that Santulli and other fraternity pledges were forced to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol.
The national fraternity and university both suspended the Missouri chapter following Santulli’s hospitalization, which left him blind and unable to walk or communicate.
Delanty was one of several fraternity members charged in the incident,
Last year, Thomas Shultz of Chesterfield pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of supplying alcohol to a minor, according to court records.
As part of a plea deal, his sentence included 30 days in jail, 100 hours of community service and two years of probation.
In 2022, Santulli’s family settled with nearly two dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit.
Yehovah Kelvin
