EAST LANSING — A criminal case stemming from the alcohol-related death of a fraternity pledge in November 2021 has grown to include a total of nine defendants.
Prosecutors in late January filed charges against seven people in connection with the death of Phat Nguyen, 21, during a “crossing party” at a since-disbanded Michigan State University fraternity, court records indicate.
Three people were charged in June 2022, and two of those cases are still pending. Charges against the third were dismissed in late 2022.
The new charges resulted from evidence presented by East Lansing police, who downloaded and analyzed data from a large number of cellphones, a time-consuming process, Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said. In all, 10 cellphones were seized as part of the investigation, he said.
“That’s a lot of data to go through,” he said.
All nine defendants are charged with hazing resuting in death, a maximum 15-year felony, and three counts of hazing resulting in injury, a maximum 93-day misdemeanor. The charges stem from a party at Pi Alpha Phi fraternity on Nov. 20, 2021, in which police found four people who had passed out, including one who was “unresponsive and not breathing,” police said at the time.