Former frat boy faces six months jail after admitting hazing fellow student with vodka in incident that left him permanently blind and unable to speak or walk
A former University of Missouri frat boy has pleaded guilty to hazing another student by forcing him to drink so much alcohol that he became permanently blind and unable to speak or walk.
Ryan P. Delanty faces six months in prison for the October 2021 incident that left Danny Santulli with significant brain damage.
Delanty, of Manchester, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday in Boone County to furnishing liquor to a minor and hazing.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of six months in prison, followed by six months of house arrest. The verdict is May 24.
The October 2021 hazing at a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity event left Santulli unable to see, walk or speak.
Danny Santulli, 19, is now blind, unable to speak and confined to a wheelchair as a result of the brain damage he suffered during a brutal night of hazing last October
Previously: Danny is seen in 2020 before the hazing incident left him permanently disabled
Ryan P. Delanty faces six months in prison over the October 2021 incident after pleading guilty to hazing
He was told to drink an entire 1.75 liter bottle of Tito’s vodka and was force-fed beer through a tube.
The freshman passed out on a couch and started turning blue, but no one called 911.
Harrowing footage shows the moment his frat brothers realized he was seriously ill before carrying him to a car to take him to hospital.
By the time he got there, he had stopped breathing long enough to cause severe brain damage.
Authorities said his blood alcohol content was 0.486, six times the legal limit.
He now lives at home with his parents and requires 24-hour care. His family estimates his medical bills exceed $2 million.
“Ryan understands the gravity of the situation, and he is pleased to have found a resolution that avoids a lawsuit,” said Delanty’s attorney, Stephanie Fortus.
The fraternity chapter has since closed. Santulli’s family members have filed a civil lawsuit against the fraternity and 23 members. An unspecified amount was settled in 2022.
Danny is shown holding a bottle of Tito’s on the evening of October 2021
Danny is shown half fallen off the couch in the frat house after passing out
Danny Santulli is seen above being carried to a car to be driven to the hospital on October 20 after a brutal night of hazing at his fraternity at the University of Missouri
According to the lawsuit, the couple wanted to make it a night “the pledges would not forget,” so filled the frat house with “cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.”
The new pledges had bottles of Tito’s taped to their hands and were branded ‘p*****s’ if they stopped drinking, according to documents reviewed by DailyMail.com.
According to the lawsuit, the fraternity brothers gave Danny a family handle of Tito’s vodka and told him to drink it all night.
At that point, he had already been at their beck and call for a month as part of the grueling hazing process.
“He was sleep-deprived, had to use his own money to buy things for the fraternity brothers, and was repeatedly assigned to clean the brothers’ rooms and bring them food, alcohol and marijuana at all hours of the night.
“To make matters worse, during the commitment process, Danny was instructed to climb into a garbage can that contained broken glass,” the lawsuit reads.
Two nights before the incident, Danny yelled at his sister that he had had enough, the lawsuit alleges.
His family told him to leave the fraternity, but he said he didn’t want to because he “wasn’t a quitter.”
Santulli now requires 24-hour care, which his family says has cost them about $2 million
Samuel Gandhi (left) and Alec Wetzler (right) have now also been named as defendants by the family of Danny Santulli, a teenager whose family says he was forced to drink until his heart stopped during Phi Gamma Delta’s pledge month last October. Both pleaded guilty in 2023
The national fraternity and the university both suspended the Missouri chapter following Santulli’s hospitalization
The lawsuit also alleges that the boys were warned by the school at the time due to a previous hazing incident.
Another fraternity member, Thomas Shultz of Chesterfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty in April to supplying liquor to a minor.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform community service and complete a drug and alcohol education program.
It came after Samuel Gandhi and Alec Wetzler pleaded guilty in 2023. Both were named in the family’s lawsuit.