New trial date set for former fraternity member charged in hazing case

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A jury trial for a former University of Missouri fraternity member charged in connection with the suspected hazing of Danny Santulli will now be held in May.

Ryan Delanty, 22, of Ballwin, is charged in Boone County with felony hazing, second-degree assault and supplying alcohol to a minor.

According to online court records, Delanty's trial is scheduled to start May 21 at 9 a.m. The trial was originally scheduled to start in April. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 6 at 9 a.m.

Delanty was the "pledge dad" of Santulli when he 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.

Delanty is one of several defendants in the case. Six of those defendants have taken plea deals:

• Harrison Reichman, of Kansas City, 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, 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, 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, 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, has a hearing scheduled for April 1 at 9 a.m.

Samuel Lane and Benjamin Karl, both of Columbia, are charged with felony hazing. A status hearing for Lane’s case was set for 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26. A hearing in Karl's case is scheduled for April 15.