Fraternity members get probation after pleading guilty to alcohol charges in Washington

UPDATE: A student, Wesley Oswald, pleaded guilty to providing liquor to Samuel Martinez and was sentenced on Oct. 22 to 19 days in jail, a $500 fine, 24 months of supervised probation, and a requirement to take a class about alcohol and drugs, KREM reported. Oswald was the only fraternity member charged with providing liquor to Martinez specifically.

The original story continues below.

Three former members of a fraternity at Washington State University were sentenced to eight months of supervised probation after pleading guilty to alcohol charges.

Maxwell Rovegno, Cameron Thomas and Nolan Valcik were sentenced after pleading guilty to supplying liquor to minors the night that 19-year-old Samuel Martinez died after an event in November 2019, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The three men were not accused of supplying liquor to Martinez specifically, but to other minors at the event, Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said in an email provided to McClatchy News. They were each also sentenced to a day in jail, a $1,000 fine with $500 suspended, and are required to complete alcohol and drug information school, KING 5 reported.

Fifteen former members of the fraternity were initially charged in connection with Martinez’s death, though only one, Wesley Oswald, was charged with supplying liquor to Martinez. His case is pending. The other members charged in the case were given continuances until 2022, The Spokesman-Review reported.

Martinez died after consuming alcohol during an initiation event at Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at WSU, KREM reported. Pullman police found Martinez unconscious and not breathing at the fraternity at 8:35 a.m. on Nov. 12, and medics later determined he was dead.

Whitman County Coroner Annie Pillers ruled that Martinez had died of “acute alcohol intoxication,” or alcohol poisoning, KREM reported. His death was determined to be accidental, and Pillers found that Martinez had died at 4:30 a.m., hours before he was found by others in the fraternity.

A report published by the Pullman Police Department in January 2021 revealed that Martinez had a blood alcohol level of 0.372 at the time of his death. In Washington, a person is legally considered intoxicated when their blood alcohol level is 0.08 or higher, McClatchy News reported in June.

According to the report, the fraternity was holding its annual “big/little night” at an off-campus house rented by several members on the night of Martinez’s death, McClatchy News reported. At these events, the freshman members are assigned a “big brother” within the fraternity, and the chapter celebrates the pairings. These events often involve a lot of drinking.

Martinez’s assigned big brother told officers that he, Martinez and Martinez’s “twin brother” had shared a half gallon of rum that night, the report said. The “twin,” another freshman paired with the same upperclassman, told officers that the bottle was nearly finished after 30 minutes.

The morning after the event, members found Martinez lying on the floor and attempted CPR but were unsuccessful, the report said.

Throughout the night, Martinez’s big brother and several other members of the fraternity noticed that Martinez was “very drunk.” At around 11:30 p.m., Martinez’s big brother and a group of freshmen were seen moving Martinez downstairs to the room where he was later found dead, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The 15 fraternity members were charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor, a gross misdemeanor. The crime is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine, McClatchy News reported.

Martinez’s family released a statement earlier this year criticizing the charges that were filed related to Martinez’s death, saying that they were “deeply disappointed” no one would be charged for hazing because the police department “allowed the statute of limitations for that charge to expire,” even though there was “substantial evidence of hazing that would have supported hazing charges.”

The statement also criticized the fact that similar incidents have occurred during initiation events at other universities in the country.

“A boy dies. His family and friends are shattered. Promises of reform are made, and broken. We say enough,” the statement said. “It is time for universities, fraternities and policymakers to enact meaningful reforms that end this toxic culture.”

Washington State University and Alpha Tau Omega’s national leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Although Martinez died from alcohol poisoning, Pullman Police Department officer Jake Opgenorth said investigators did not believe there was enough evidence for a prosecutor to prove manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt, The Spokesman-Review reported.

In an op-ed for The Seattle Times published on July 31, 2020, Martinez’s mother, Jolayne Houtz, criticized the university and the fraternity system for a lack of accountability, saying that “when a pledge dies, the blame-shifting begins within hours.”

“Fraternities and universities have an unhealthy, symbiotic relationship that leads universities to look the other way despite a pervasive pattern of fraternity misconduct,” Houtz wrote.

Martinez’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the university on July 31, 2020, alleging that the university should have known that initiation events would be dangerous and would involve hazing. The lawsuit also criticized the fraternity members for planning out and executing numerous hazing rituals, despite the fact that the fraternity also had policies in place prohibiting hazing.

“The college fraternity system is long overdue for the kind of reckoning many other American institutions now face for enabling and perpetuating violence, injustice and destructive behavior,” Houtz wrote. “Fraternities — and the universities and corporate entities that profit from them — must face the same scrutiny and be held accountable for failing to protect the young people in their care.”

The university suspended the fraternity until 2026, according to The Associated Press.

CORRECTION: This story originally contained incorrect information about the charges the fraternity members faced.

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Fraternity members get probation after pleading guilty to alcohol charges in Washington."