Penn State frat member learns sentence in pledge death case
Published July 31. 2018 05:35AM
by MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
The first member of a Penn State University fraternity to plead guilty in connection with the death of a pledge last year after a night of drinking and hazing is set to learn his sentence.
A judge on Tuesday is scheduled to announce the punishment for Ryan Burke for four counts of hazing and five alcohol violations.
The 21-year-old Scranton resident is among more than 20 members of the now-closed Beta Theta Pi fraternity to face criminal charges over the February 2017 death of Tim Piazza.
Piazza, a sophomore engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, died after a night of heavy drinking and a series of falls that left him with a fractured skull and severe abdominal injuries.
Other defendants face trial in February.
FILE – In this June 13, 2018, file photo, Ryan Burke, left, who was a fraternity brother at Penn State University’s shuttered Beta Theta Pi chapter, walks with his attorney Philip Masorti on the day Burke pleaded guilty to four counts of hazing and five alcohol-related offenses related to the death of 19-year-old fraternity pledge Timothy Piazza, of Lebanon, N.J., outside the Centre County Courthouse Annex in Bellefonte, Pa. Burke is set to learn his sentence, on Tuesday, July 31. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP, File)
FILE – In this May 5, 2017, file photo, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, center, stand by as Centre County, Pa., prosecutors discuss an investigation into the death of their son Timothy Piazza, seen in photo at right, during a news conference in Bellefonte, Pa. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday, May 1, 2018, that state prosecutors are dropping involuntary manslaughter and assault charges against five Penn State fraternity brothers related to the death of the 19-year-old Beta Theta Pi pledge from Lebanon, N.J., after a night of heavy drinking. A hearing is scheduled Wednesday, May 2, 2018, to determine whether there's enough evidence to head toward trial on the remaining allegations. (Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP, File)
FILE - This Nov. 9, 2017, file photo shows the shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house on Penn State University’s main campus in State College, Pa. During a Tuesday, July 31, 2018, sentencing hearing, a judge is scheduled to announce the punishment for Ryan Burke, of Scranton, Pa., the first fraternity member to plead guilty in relation to the Feb. 4, 2017, death of Timothy Piazza, of Lebanon, N.J., after a night of heavy drinking. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)