Last two in YSU hazing case plead guilty
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The last two defendants in a 2012 fraternity hazing case at Youngstown State University entered guilty pleas Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Jarius Ford, 36, pleaded guilty before Judge Shirley J. Christian to two misdemeanor counts of obstruction of justice, and Edward Robertson, 32, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of assault.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are recommending probation. The pleas came on a day a jury trial was scheduled and both defendants opted to have the case heard by Judge Christian before reaching their pleas.
Robertson and Ford were the last of nine defendants to have their cases heard.
They will be sentenced by Judge Christian today. One of the victims is expected to attend, Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa told Judge Christian.
The nine men were charged after two pledges to the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 2012 told police, after they were hospitalized, that they were beaten as part of an initiation process into the fraternity.
Prosecutors said the two men who wanted to pledge the fraternity were beaten consistently, including paddlings and beatings with fists and a clothes hanger.
Prosecutors said that the beatings took place over a period of three days and could have lasted as long as five days.
One of the victims was in a coma for a time because of his injuries, and the other victim also had medical problems and was hospitalized.