MANHATTAN — Four former fraternity members pleaded guilty for their roles in the 2013 hazing death of a Baruch student in Pennsylvania.
Kenny Kawn, 28, Charles Lai, 26, Raymond Lam, 23, and Sheldon Wong, 24, also pleaded guilty this week to hindering apprehension for concealing or destroying evidence for the death of Chun Hsien "Michael" Deng, 19, during a Pi Delta Psi fraternity trip, according to the Monroe County District Attorney's office.
(Credit: Monroe County District Attorney's Office)
They're scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 4.
The cases against 32 other frat members involved in the hazing are still outstanding and the trial against the fraternity is scheduled for November, the DA's office said.
Deng, a freshman studying financing, was pledging the Pi Delta Psi fraternity and went with them to a pledge event at a house in the Poconos they rented in December 2013.
They played the hazing ritual called the “glass ceiling” in which frat pledges were blindfolded, weighed down with sand-filled backpacks and told to run through a large group of brothers, according to prosecutors. Most pledges managed to make it through relatively unscathed, but Deng was singled out and tackled, according to court papers.
Deng slipped into unconsciousness and died at a nearby hospital of internal trauma. In the wake of his death, members of the fraternity — including the national president — actively attempted to obscure the frat’s role in the incident, according to prosecutors.
Four of the brothers who directly attacked Deng were charged with homicide and assault, while others, including Ka-Wing Yuen, were charged with hazing and hindering prosecution and conspiracy charges for both offenses.
Yuen, who was the first to go to trial, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges on Jan. 10 in exchange for prosecutors dropping the hazing and hindering charges.
He was sentenced to five years probation, a $100 fine and 100 days of community service.
