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TRENTON (AP) ― A Rider University student pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to an aggravated hazing charge in connection with the
binge drinking death of a freshman earlier this spring.

Adriano DiDonato, 22, of Princeton, did not speak during the arraignment at the Mercer County Courthouse as his lawyer Paul Norris entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

A second student, Dominic Olsen, 21, of Kenilworth, who was originally scheduled to be arraigned along with DiDonato had his hearing delayed until next week, said Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.

Speaking after the court hearing, Norris said his client was devastated by the death of Gary DeVercelly Jr., of Long Beach, Calif.

"This is a tragic event and by no means does Adriano minimize what happened here," Norris said. "He's very sad about what happened, as is the rest of the fraternity."

DeVercelly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.426 percent, or more than five times New Jersey's legal limit for driving, when he was pronounced dead March 30 at a Trenton hospital, authorities said.

He died one day after drinking at a party at the Phi Kappa Tau house on the private school's campus in central New Jersey.

The party, according to prosecutors, was a special event in which pledges such as DeVercelly would drink with fraternity members. Some of the pledges drank entire bottles of hard liquor in under an hour, prosecutors have said.

Prosecutors said in announcing the indictment last Friday that the defendants "knowingly or recklessly organized, promoted, facilitated or engaged in conduct which resulted in serious bodily injury" to DeVercelly and another student, William Williams; Williams also suffered alcohol poisoning but survived.

Olsen was the pledge master of the fraternity's spring 2007 pledge class, and DiDonato was the fraternity's residence director and house master.

Two school officials and a third student were also charged in connection with DeVercelly's death: Ada Badgley, 31, the
university's director of Greek life; Anthony Campbell, 51, the dean of students; and Michael J. Torney, 21, the fraternity chapter president.

DeBlasio said Campbell is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday; Olsen and Badgley are expected to be arraigned next week; no date has been determined for Torney's arraignment.

The indictments mark one of the first times that university officials have been criminally charged in a suspected hazing death, according Doug Fierberg, a lawyer retained by DeVercelly's parents, who has represented hazing victims since the mid-1990s.

Norris described the hazing charge as "unfair."

"I don't believe the indictment is fair to individuals like Adriano, and to anybody else who is a resident assistant, that
they're somehow now put into a position to monitor every single person's activity," he said.

A lawyer for Torney, Michael Rogers, said his client will plead not guilty. Rogers said Torney did not participate in any hazing and wasn't even in attendance when the pledges were drinking.

"He was shocked at the fact that there was a charge brought against him ... because he didn't do anything," Rogers said.

Jonathan Meer, Rider's vice president of university advancement, said Wednesday that a decision is expected next week about the employment status of the two staff members. He said Badgley and Campbell are currently employed at the school.

"We need to learn more before an appropriate course of action can be determined," Meer said.

Norris said he had not received any indication from the school that his client would be barred from finishing his education at Rider.

"He wants to graduate and move on with his life," Norris said.

Meer said the university has a disciplinary system in place to deal with such situations but at this point no disciplinary action had been taken.

If convicted of the hazing charge, the officials and fraternity members would face a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 HD for more on this developing story.

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