Two former members of Phi Gamma Delta were charged with felony hazing on Friday for their role in grievously harming Danny Santulli. The charges come after an online petition circulated by friends of the Santulli family calling for enforcement of the Missouri anti-hazing statute has so far gained nearly 35,000 signatures in less than a week. The charges were brought against Ryan Delanty and Thomas Schultz, two fraternity members who were directly responsible for Danny’s treatment the night he suffered alcohol poisoning in a hazing ritual.
"It’s the worst fraternity hazing injury ever in the United States," David said in a Fox News report. "We’ve been doing these cases for 30 years. I know the landscape of hazing. I know the defense lawyers who defend the fraternities. And everyone agrees this is the worst ever."
“He has massive brain damage,” David told the Columbia Daily Tribune a few weeks ago. “He’s blind. He’s unable to walk or communicate and will require 24 hour care for the rest of his life.”
“It makes me sick, sick to my stomach seeing the people involved that harmed Danny walking around campus acting like they did nothing wrong,” said Meredith Santulli, Danny’s sister, on Good Morning America earlier this month. Hopefully, the felony hazing charges brought forward on Friday can afford the Santulli family some assurance that their son’s treatment will not go unpunished.
David Bianchi Appears on NewsNation to Discuss Bowling Green Hazing Incident
In a flagrant demonstration that the law still doesn’t take hazing seriously, five former fraternity members convicted of hazing someone to death at Bowling Green State University were given light sentences. Three of them were given a combined nine weeks in jail, while two others were given house arrest. It’s clear to any observer, especially the family of their victim Stone Foltz, that these are completely inadequate sentences.
“Can you imagine if you had done something that resulted in the death of someone and you did it with a gun, for example?” Bianchi said on NewsNation Prime. “You wouldn’t be sentenced to 21 days in jail. You’d go to jail for years, but this is the way it is.”
The ritual that killed Stone last year is the same hazing ritual that killed Andrew Coffey in 2017 and robbed Danny Santulli of his vision and mobility last October. Enough is enough. If there’s any hope of preventing another grievous loss due to hazing, the law must take the harming of these young men seriously.
Watch the interview below: