Court documents revealed that a text message exchange between Beta Theta Pi president, Brendan Young, and another student revealed that they planned on carrying out the elephant walk just two months before pledge and Penn State student Timothy Piazza fell down a flight of stairs and died during a hazing ritual.
Other charges include aggravated and simple assault, evidence tampering, alcohol-related violations and hazing.
A legal analyst and the attorney representing the Piazza family say that a lawsuit against the University isn't out of the question.
After graduating in 2015, Neuman enrolled at Penn State, where he served as a manager for the wrestling team, according to the team's yearbook. He appears unconscious and on the left side of his abdomen there is a visible bruise.
Defense lawyers and the fraternity members facing charges did not return messages or declined comment on Monday.
A staggering Piazza continually fell with a blood-alcohol level of up to.4, and hit his head, but no-one called for help. Security footage described in the presentment shows him growing increasingly agitated in his discussions with his fraternity brothers. In this state Piazza stumbled towards the stairs leading to the frat house's [pictured above] basement, fell head first and suffered head injuries. He staggers to the lobby and falls head first into an iron railing before falling to the floor.
Piazza was found unconscious on a couch on the main floor when paramedics arrived after a call for help.
He did not mention Piazza's name, but told the dispatcher that the victim was breathing and 19 years old. One brother said Piazza's eyes were half open and he felt cold.
At around 10 a.m., the brothers found him down there. Surveillance footage showed brothers shaking him and trying to prop him up. He claimed that he screamed for someone to call 911, but the others shouted him down.
Piazza died February 4, two days after he fell, having suffered a nonrecoverable brain injury, ruptured spleen and collapsed lung.
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Last month, the football player was found naked and hanging from a bed sheet in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. Earlier, lawyer John Thompson told Garsh the prosecution had presented no evidence that would require the conviction to stand.
The grand jury report also criticized the entire Penn State Greek community as a whole, saying it "nurtured an environment so permissive of excessive drinking and hazing that it emboldened its members to repeatedly act with reckless disregard to human life". They are prohibited from having alcohol and non-prescription drugs, can not leave their home state without express permission from the judge and must surrender their passports, the district attorney said.
A Pennsylvania judge arraigned the defendants - including two from the Philadelphia region - and set bail at $50,000, but they did not have to post any money. Additionally, the individuals arraigned Tuesday were ordered to not have contact with any other witnesses or defendants, the district attorney's office said.
Eighteen Penn State fraternity brothers are charged in connection to the death of Timothy Piazza.
In the case of Beta Theta Pi, Lohse said, "I think you can clearly see that all it would have taken is one person to stand up and have the courage to do the right thing".
"It's unspeakable, so it's just a very, very sad and tragic case", Brennan said. "Having said that, it is my position that there is no criminality on the part of my client". Do you support or oppose them?
DA announces charges against Penn. "My client, while presumed innocent and proclaiming innocence, has tremendous compassion for the deceased and his family".
At the pledging ceremony, the frat brothers allegedly made Timothy drink four to five alcoholic drinks within two minutes in a "gauntlet" hazing ritual created to get pledges drunk quickly.
The university on March 30 issued a permanent ban on Beta Theta Pi, which was once regarded as a model fraternity.
In a statement, the Beta Theta Pi International Fraternity called the charges "incredibly disheartening" and said it was standing by its decision to disband the chapter.
"This was a preventable tragedy. But the public will wonder and they will need to address why it took this death for the university to shut down the chapter whether there was an apparent history", says Glenn Selig, chief strategist at the national PR firm, The Publicity Agency. They knew it, they formed a task force, they did nothing about it. The university would not say how numerous 18 students were due to graduate.
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