JIO resolves cases against Castle students

Individual charges against current students involved in the Psi Upsilon fraternity's alleged kidnapping of a Delta Psi fraternity brother were resolved earlier this month, Judicial Inquiry Officer Constance Goodman said yesterday. But Goodman would not say how the charges were resoloved -- whether the charges had been dropped or punishments had been imposed in any of the individual cases. And the Philadelphia District Attorney's charges against several students for the same incident were dropped this summer when the defendants agreed to participate in a probationary program. Goodman said yesterday that the University charged 21 former Castle members and one non-fraternity student last April for planning and executing the January kidnapping of St. A's brother William O'Flanagan. The JIO in May released the 44-point findings of fact detailing the incident. The report said throughout the two-and-a-half-hour episode, O'Flanagan was "in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, and at one point, death." The 99-year-old campus Psi Upsilon chapter was suspended for five years after the University found that members were collectively responsible for the incident. Members were evicted from their Locust Walk house and are not allowed to organize any events as a group. A former Castle member, who requested anonymity, said last night that former members are not conducting any activities as a house. Goodman would not comment on the case status of people who have graduated or have left the University. She also would not specify what charges were brought against the students. The former member said that the students were punished for violating the University's code of conduct, adding that charges and punishments varied from person to person. College sophomore Carter Crum, one of the students charged, said last night he thinks he was sentenced fairly. And Goodman said she is "satisfied" with the results of the individual cases. "I hope that the campus can begin to heal and that the individuals who were involved know the seriousness of what they did," Goodman said. "I hope they can move on with their lives too." But the former member who asked not to be identified said he is unhappy with the University's handling of the case. "In retrospect, our honesty [in telling the JIO what occurred] really harmed us more than anything else," he said. "If the implication is that silence would have served us better, I don't think that's the kind of judicial system the University wants to espouse." The Philadelphia DA arrested former University students Aaron Castellano and Carlton Jackson in February on felony charges of kidnapping and making terrorist threats and several misdemeanor counts. The DA also charged eight former Castle brothers in July for second degree misdemeanors of conspiracy, simple assault and false imprisonment -- counts which carried a maximum sentence of six years. To avoid possible jail terms, all 10 students agreed to join the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, a probationary program for first-time offenders. Under the terms of the program, the students did not enter pleas. The students charged this summer were former College senior and Castle President Kamuti Kiteme, Wharton junior Peter Stone, Wharton sophomore Chris Migura, College sophomores Crum, Matthew Baxter, Patrick Shanahan and Severin White, and former University student Walter LarMoore. Crum said last night that for the probationary program the students "have to stay out of trouble" for a period of time. He said that once the period is over and the students' behavior has been deemed satisfactory, the incident will be wiped off of their criminal records. Crum said the former Castle brothers accepted the DA's offer because they wanted to put the situation behind them. He said the case would have dragged on for at least a year or more if they had not entered into the probationary program. Former fraternity members said yesterday that they are angered that the University held the Castle collectively responsible for last January's incident, saying that there were some former brothers who played a larger role in the alleged kidnapping than others. The former member who did not wish to be identified said he thinks "the distribution of guilt and the distribution of punishment are out of whack" because most of the people "bearing the brunt" are the pledges, who he said were least culpable for the incident. He added that about one-third of the former brothers were away last semester, and that many of the former members who were involved are no longer at the University. O'Flanagan, a College senior, could not be reached for comment.

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