‘Pledge dad’ in Mizzou hazing case pleads guilty
A 19-year-old former University of Missouri student is wheelchair-bound, blind, and unable to speak after he was hazed last fall, according to his family. (David Bianchi)
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COLUMBIA, Mo. – One former member of a fraternity at Mizzou pleaded guilty Friday in relation to a hazing incident in October 2021.
Ryan Delanty was one of several students in the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, known as FIJI, that have been charged with hazing Danny Santulli on Oct. 19, 2021, which left him unable to walk, talk, or see.
Delanty, who allegedly was Santulli’s “pledge dad,” pleaded guilty to two separate counts of hazing and supplying alcohol to a minor.
The night of the incident was “Pledge Dad Reveal Night,” and Santulli was instructed to drink a liter of vodka during the event, according to court documents.
The lawsuit from Santulli’s family said that after Danny was given the liter of vodka, he was then selected by other members to drink beer through a tube. Court documents go on to say that just before midnight, Santulli was sitting on the couch in “extreme distress and with a blood alcohol level of .468%.” That’s nearly six times the legal limit in Missouri.
Thirty minutes later, around 12:30 a.m., Santulli slid partially off the couch and ended up with his face on the floor. He had no control over his arms or legs and stayed there until someone passing through the room put him back on the couch. The lawsuit states Santulli’s “skin was pale, and his lips were blue, yet no one called 911.”
Instead, the decision was made to drive Santulli to University Hospital in Columbia in one of the brother’s cars. The lawsuit says, “When they arrived, hospital staff went to the car only to find that Danny was not breathing and in cardiac arrest. CPR was performed and Danny’s heart was restarted.”
Santulli now lives at home with his parents in Minnesota, as he requires full-time care. He is no longer able to see, talk, or walk. According to the family, medical bills have exceeded $2 million.
FIJI dissolved its chapter at the University of Missouri soon after the incident.
The Santulli family has settled with 26 defendants in a civil case that included the fraternity brothers and the national Phi Gamma Delta Organization according to a report from FOX 2 last year.
Delanty’s sentencing is scheduled for May 24.