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Student Senate President Found Guilty But Avoids Jail Time in Court Case
By: Susan Tebben
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The president of the Ohio University Student Senate and two other student senate representatives won’t serve jail time after being found guilty of persistent disorderly conduct in Athens County Municipal Court on Monday, as long as they adhere to the court’s conditions.
Megan Marzec, Kyle Tussing and DJ Amireh appeared for bench trials on the fourth-degree misdemeanor charges stemming from a protest of an Ohio University Board of Trustees meeting in January. All three were served the charges after the protest of tuition raises, rather than being arrested on the scene.
The senate representatives pleaded not guilty to the charge at an initial appearance on Jan. 23. The initial appearance followed a march on Court Street that continued the protest of rising tuition rates.
“The reason why we have actions like this is…there’s no other way to get (university officials) to hear our voices,” Marzec said before her initial appearance.
Marzec, Tussing and Amireh were all found guilty on Monday and given a 30-day jail sentence by Judge William Grim. They won’t have to serve the sentence as long as they remain law-abiding citizens for one year and each complete 30 hours of community service within 60 days, according to the court record.
Three others that were escorted out of the January trustees meeting and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct — Claire Chadwick, Rebecca Wyss and Andrew Lake — all pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disturbing a lawful meeting and were fined $150 on March 12.