Fourth former University of Missouri fraternity brother takes plea deal in hazing case

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A fourth former member of a shuttered University of Missouri chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Monday.

Samuel Gandhi of St. Louis had been charged with felony hazing but pleaded guilty to supplying alcohol to a minor, a misdemeanor, in front of Judge Brouck Jacobs in a Boone County courtroom Monday. He was sentenced to 15 days of shock time in the county jail, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Gandhi will also have to complete a court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment program. He was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

Gandhi was charged with hazing Danny Santulli, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, who was left blind and unable to walk or speak after he suffered from alcohol poisoning during a fraternity event in October 2021. He was a freshman.

The fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, was kicked out of MU and its national organization after the incident.

A trial date has been set for one of the remaining defendants in the case. Benjamin Parres is scheduled to go to trial July 26.

Another defendant who has already pleaded guilty, Alec Wetzler, is scheduled to be sentenced in August.