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Newsletter > September 2020 > "The Last Two Defendants Plead Guilty to Charges Related To The Death of Collin Wiant"
The Last Two Defendants Plead Guilty to Charges Related To The Death of Collin Wiant
Tim Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com
Collin Wiant died on November 12, 2018,in an apparent hazing incident compounded
by the use of drugs. Now, two years later, the final defendants facing criminal charges relating to his death have plead guilty.[1]
On August 26th, Corbin Gustafson and Joshua Androsacs plead guilty to multiple charges,bringing to an end the criminal prosecution in this matter. Gustafson,who was credited with being the first to call 911 after Wiant had collapsed, pled guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor of permitting drug use. Androsacs pled guilty to a variety of charges including misdemeanor negligent homicide, misdemeanor hazing, felony permitting drug use, felony trafficking cocaine,and two counts of felony trafficking harmful intoxicants. Both Defendants received relatively light sentences, at least for now. Gustafson will participate in a diversion program and,among other things, be required to speak to four civic organizations about what happened. Androsacs will serve seventy (70)days in jail on the misdemeanor charges before taking part in the diversion program. After that is completed, the Court will then consider an appropriate sentence on Androsacs’ felony pleas.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Wiants’ parents were in courtat the time of the pleas.[2]Speaking to the Court and to Gustafson, Wiant’s parents recalled that two years ago they were helping Collin move into his dorm at Ohio University.“We had no idea this would be the beginning of the end of his life,” said his mother. Wiant’s father noted, “we, as a family, pray that the defendant use this opportunity to change his life and move forward, this is his chance to pay his debt to Collin but more importantly, to God.”
[1]Five other members of the Sigma Pi Chapter at Ohio University had previously either been found guilty or pled to a series of criminal charges related to Collin’s death.
[2]Sheridan Hendrix,Former OU Sigma Pi Members Plead Guilty to Multiple Charges in Death of Pledge Collin Wiant, Columbus Dispatch(August 26, 2020).