Students guilty of assault on pledge

Correction appended

Two members of the suspended Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity were convicted of harassment and simple assault yesterday.

College senior Kelechi Okereke and Education graduate student Lionel Anderson-Perez had faced four charges that included conspiracy, violation of an anti-hazing statute, simple assault and harassment.

Okereke and Anderson-Perez were acquitted of the conspiracy charge and the violation of the anti-hazing statute. They were sentenced to nine months of probation for the simple assault and harassment convictions.

The defendants were convicted in a bench trial, in which a judge decides both the guilt and sentence of a defendant.

The charges resulted from a criminal complaint filed by College senior Martyn Griffen, in which he alleged that Okereke and Anderson-Perez beat his legs and branded him with a rubber band as part of pledging activities for Alpha Phi Alpha last spring.

Griffen has also filed a civil lawsuit against Okereke and Anderson-Perez, as well as the Penn chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha and the fraternity's national organization. There is no court date set.

In yesterday's trial, each defendant called character witnesses to testify on their behalf. Okereke also took the stand in his own defense.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Boyd called Griffen's father and the doctor who treated him for his injuries as the prosecution's key witnesses.

Luther Weaver, Okereke's attorney, said he was happy with the judge's decision to acquit on two charges, but may decide to appeal Okereke's conviction of simple assault and harassment. Anderson-Perez was represented by Vernon Chestnut, who could not be reached for comment.

Robert Sachs, who is representing Griffen in the civil suit, said that he and Boyd were also pleased with the outcome of the trial.

"It confirms that the conduct engaged in by Okereke and Anderson-Perez was a violation of Pennsylvania law, and it also was a clear violation of the University's anti-hazing policies and the fraternity's anti-hazing policies," Sachs said.

According to Sachs, Griffen was also content with the outcome of the trial and happy he was pursuing legal action.

"He remains convinced that it was the right thing to do," Sachs said. "What he went through is something that no one should ever have to go through."

Griffen, who returned to campus this semester after leaving Penn last spring due to psychological and emotional distress, will continue his civil suit after a ruling is handed down about whether the national organization should be included in the suit.

Correction: This story incorrectly states that the pledging activities happened last spring. They actually happened last September.

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