‘Pledge dad’ who pleaded guilty in Santulli hazing case sentenced to six months in jail, house arrest

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The “pledge dad” at a University of Missouri fraternity who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in the hazing of Danny Santulli was sentenced to six months in jail and six months on house arrest on Friday.

Ryan Delanty, 22, of Ballwin, pleaded guilty on May 10 to hazing and suppling alcohol to a minor, both misdemeanors. He was previously charged with felony hazing, second-degree assault and supplying alcohol to a minor. He was taken out of the Boone County Courthouse in handcuffs. He is currently listed on the Boone County Jail roster.

Delanty was the "pledge dad" of Santulli when Santulli became unresponsive after drinking at an October 2021 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity party. According to court documents, Delanty "recklessly caused serious physical injury" to Santulli by giving him alcohol and encouraging him to drink it.

Santulli was left unable to walk, talk or see after suffering a traumatic brain injury that night.

A number of accused fraternity members have taken plea deals in the case:

• Harrison Reichman, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to giving alcohol to a minor. He was initially charged with hazing – life endangerment. He was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, along with 100 hours of community services and 15 days of shock jail time.
• Thomas Shultz, of Chesterfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor. He was sentenced to a year of probation and 30 days of shock jail time.
• Samuel Gandhi, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor He was originally charged with felony hazing. He was sentenced to 15 days of shock time in the county jail, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. He will also have to complete a court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment program.
• Alec Wetzler, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to supplying liquor to a minor and buying liquor as a minor, both misdemeanors. He was sentenced to two years of probation, with a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail. He was also ordered to two days of shock jail time. 
• Samuel Morrison, of Cameron, Missouri, pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor. He was initially charged with felony hazing. Morrison was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation with a one-year suspended sentence. He was also ordered to two days of shock jail time and will have to complete 100 hours of community service.
• Blake Morsovillo, of Springfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor. He was previously charged with felony hazing. He was sentenced to serve two years of unsupervised probation and two days of shock jail time. He will also have to complete an alcohol and drug program and do 100 hours of community service.

Benjamin Parres, of Chesterfield, was charged with felony hazing and has a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. May 28 at the Boone County Courthouse.

Samuel Lane and Benjamin Karl, both of Columbia, are also charged with felony hazing. A hearing for Lane’s case is set for 9 a.m. Monday, June 17, while Karl’s next hearing is scheduled at 10 a.m. the same day.

Check back for updates to this developing story.