Hazing left student with brain damage, attorneys say. Now ‘pledge dad’ pleads guilty

A former University of Missouri fraternity member has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a 2021 hazing incident that left a pledge with severe brain damage, court records show.

The former Mizzou student, identified as the “pledge dad” of victim Danny Santulli, pleaded guilty on May 10 to misdemeanor charges of hazing and supplying liquor to a minor, according to court records.

The hazing left Santulli, a former student-athlete, unable to see, walk or communicate, according to lawyers at Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain. He is unaware of his surroundings and will need 24-hour care for the rest of his life, attorneys said.

McClatchy News reached out to the man’s attorney for comment on May 14 but did not immediately hear back. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 24, according to court records.

“As the pledge dad, he is the one who provided the alcohol to Danny,” attorney David Bianchi, who is representing the Santulli family, said.

“He’s the one who told Danny that, pursuant to the tradition of his branch of the family, he had to consume all the alcohol in the bottle,” Bianchi said.

In Danny’s case, the alcohol provided was a bottle of vodka, according to court records.

During an October 2021 Phi Gamma Delta “Pledge Dad Reveal” party, Santulli passed out around midnight and was left on a couch until someone noticed his skin was pale and his lips were blue, according to the law firm.

Santulli was carried out to a car, where he was “dropped on his head,” and then taken to a local hospital, where “staff realized he wasn’t breathing,” attorneys said.

Danny’s blood alcohol level was .468 — nearly six times the legal limit, according to his lawyers.

Phi Gamma Delta, commonly referred to as Fiji, was removed from campus two days after the incident, according to the Columbia Missourian.

Boone County prosecutors filed hazing charges against 11 University of Missouri members, and seven, including Santulli’s “pledge dad,” have taken plea deals, according to attorneys.

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