![This June 12, 2006 file photo shows a gate with a historic marker on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. In October 2019, the university announced the blanket suspension of 15 fraternities in response to a hazing investigation on campus. [Joe Maiorana / Associated Press]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/39e0688/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1367+0+0/resize/840x574!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2020%2F02%2F810304675_2083796680.jpg)
Three former fraternity members pleaded guilty this week on charges related to the hazing death of Ohio University student Collin Wiant.
Wiant, 18, died in November 2018 inside a Sigma Pi fraternity house after inhaling a can nitrous oxide, known as a "whippit."
Dominic Figliola pleaded guilty to hazing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, and must complete one year of non-reporting probation. Cullen McLaughlin pleaded guilty on two counts of possessing LSD, which is a fifth-degree felony.
“There's nothing in the world other than Collin coming back that could bring justice,” said Wiant’s mother, Kathleen Wiant.
Both students are completing a diversion court program called the Athens County Empowerment Program and neither received jail time. They will be required to pay court fees and serve community service hours.
Judge Patrick J. Lang ordered that Figliola’s charges of permitting drug abuse (a fifth degree felony), aggravated possession of drugs (a fourth degree felony), and failure to comply with underage alcohol laws (an unclassified misdemeanor) be held in abeyance pending completion of the empowerment program.
Another student, Zachary Herskovitz, pleaded guilty to permitting drug abuse later Thursday afternoon.
Kathleen Wiant, who advocates against hazing at schools across the country, said she's happy Figliola and McLaughlin will speak to students as part of their punishment.
“I think they have the opportunity to have a powerful and exponential impact by speaking to other college students about hazing," she said. "That's certainly emotionally compelling coming from a mom who's lost her child, but I believe it's so much more powerful and impactful when it's a peer to peer message.."
Figliola and McLaughlin plan to testify against six other defendants facing charges related to Wiant's death. Defendant Zach Herskovitz was charged with felony permitting drug abuse and misdemeanor hazing and appeared in court Thursday afternoon.
Sigma Pi was expelled from Ohio University in April 2019for “hazing and other violations.”
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