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Two More Defendants Plead Guilty In Hazing Death
By: WOUB Staff Writer
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The last of the former Ohio University students involved in the death of a fraternity pledge have plead guilty.
Collin Wiant died on November 12, 2018 during what is being considered a hazing incident for the Sigma Pi fraternity.
According to a press release from the Athens County Prosecutor’s office, Joshua Thomas Androsac, 21, of Lewis Center, Ohio, plead guilty, on Wednesday, to four felonies, including cocaine trafficking. Androsac also plead guilty to two misdemeanors including hazing and negligent homicide. He was ordered to serve 70 days in jail for the misdemeanor offenses.
Androsac will not serve any time for the other charges if he completes the Athens County Empowerment (A.C.E.) Program.
Corbin Michael Gustafson, 23, of Furlong, Pennsylvania, will also avoid jail time once he completes the A.C.E. rehabilitation program. He plead guilty to a complicity drug abuse charge.
James Dylan Wanke, 25, with Silver Serpent, LLC, is scheduled to appear in the Athens County Common Pleas Court in September. He is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, third-degree involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of trafficking in harmful intoxicants. These charges are all felonies. He is also charged with a misdemeanor count of improperly dispensing or distributing nitrous oxide.
The other defendants were either convicted or plead guilty to their charges earlier this year.
The Athens County Prosecutor says the penalty for hazing needs to be upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony. Keller Blackburn added, “I have worked to change hazing laws with the Wiant family and with Representatives Greenspan, Edwards, and Boggs, and I am looking forward to the General Assembly passing Collin’s Law, hopefully this year.”