By Lea Kahn, The Packet Group
LAWRENCE — Michael Torney, the former president of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity at Rider University, has settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by the parents of a fraternity pledge who died of alcohol poisoning during a fraternity initiation rite in March 2007.
The settlement reached between Mr. Torney and Gary and Julie DeVercelly, who are the parents of the late Gary DeVercelly Jr., calls for Mr. Torney to pay $150,000 to the DeVercelly family, said attorney Douglas Fierberg, who represents the DeVercelly family.
”Mr. Torney is going to be available to the DeVercelly family to tell the truth about how and why their son died, and who is responsible,” Mr. Fierberg said last week in a telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., law office.
Mr. DeVercelly, 18, was a Rider University freshman when he died at Capital Health System’s Fuld Campus in March 2007 following an evening of binge drinking at the PKT fraternity house on the Rider campus. His blood alcohol content was .426. A person is considered legally intoxicated when the blood alcohol content reaches .08.
Mr. DeVercelly had pledged the PKT fraternity when the incident occurred, according to the civil lawsuit filed against Mr. Torney, Rider University and the fraternity’s local and national chapters in December 2007. Fraternity members Adriano DiDonato, Dominic Olsen and Vincent Calogero also were named in the lawsuit.
Mr. DeVercelly was given vodka to drink, according to the lawsuit. When he became increasingly ill, fraternity members carried him to a second-floor room and put him on a sofa with a towel and bucket under his mouth. He attempted to vomit out some of the alcohol but could not. Fraternity members tried to help induce vomiting by putting their fingers in his mouth.
Another pledge suggested calling for help, the lawsuit states, “but no help was summoned until Mr. DeVercelly began to turn blue and foam at his mouth.” A call was then made for emergency medical help. He was taken to the hospital and placed on life support until his parents arrived from their California home and authorized its removal.
In addition to the civil lawsuit, Mr. Torney, Mr. DiDonato and Mr. Olsen were charged with criminal offenses in the aftermath. All three were charged with aggravated hazing, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 18 months and a maximum fine of $10,000.
Mr. DiDonato and Mr. Olsen were sentenced to perform 100 hours of community service, mandatory alcohol counseling and to pay fines and penalties of $125 in October 2007. Their cases were settled through the pre-trial intervention program for first-time offenders in nonviolent crimes. If they successfully complete the PTI program, the charge will be dismissed and they will not have a criminal record.
Mr. Torney’s criminal case is pending in Mercer County state Superior Court. Mr. Torney, who has since transferred to Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, was not eligible for the PTI program because he pleaded guilty in June 2007 to a charge of conspiracy to distribute less than one ounce of marijuana in Morris County state Superior Court. He was sentenced to a one-year probation and 100 hours of community service for the incident, which occurred in April 2005.
