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Lawyer: No jail in hazing death Sentencing hearing set for May 8 in pending plea deals for former NIU fraternity members By DARIA SOKOLOVA dsokolova@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Five former members of Northern Illinois University’s Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity facing felony hazing charges in connection with the accidental death of pledge David Bogenberger won’t face jail time under terms of plea agreements negotiated with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office, Bogenberger family attorney Peter Coladarci said.
If the plea is accepted by a judge at a May 8 sentencing hearing, the five would be sentenced to conditional discharge, a form of nonreporting probation. Those men, along with 17 others facing less serious charges in con- David n e c t i o n w i t h Bogenberger Bogenberger’s death, are scheduled to appear. Bogenberger, a 19-year-old
Palatine High School graduate, died in November 2012 at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house after an unsanctioned party. A toxicology report showed his blood-alcohol content at the time of his death was 0.351 percent. The NIU chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha was closed after the incident. Bogenberger was participating in an unsanctioned “parents night” party where Greek members paired into “moms” and “dads.” The “parents” then asked pledges ques-
tions where wrong answers resulted in pledges drinking vodka and other liquor from plastic cups. The five felony defendants are: Omar Salameh, 23, of DeKalb, the former pledge adviser; Alex M. Jandick, 23, of Naperville, the former fraternity president; James P. Harvey, 23, of Northfield, the former vice president; Patrick W. Merrill, 21, now of Boston, and Steven A. Libert, 22, of Naperville. Coladarci said in addition
to the conditional discharge, the five will face various penalties, including community service and fines. Bogenberger’s family has filed suit against about 40 male and female students who were at the party that night. The women who were at the party were not criminally charged. The case was continued in February, and DeKalb County prosecutors had previously said they were going to enter plea agreements for the five former fraternity members
facing a felony hazing charge, as well as several other men accused of misdemeanor hazing. Prosecutors are trying to resolve all the cases on the same day. Coladarci said Bogenberger’s parents, who no longer live in Illinois, will attend the May 8 hearing and plan to make statements. DeKalb County State’s Attorney Richard Schmack declined to comment ahead of the hearing.
Hostages die in CIA strikes in Pakistan
Davis, Smith join D-428 board
By JULIE PACE The Associated Press
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Doug Johnson looks at Mary Lynn Meisch, chief deputy of elections, while waiting for a tape of Cortland’s 6th Precinct results during the election certification Thursday at the DeKalb County Administration Building in Sycamore.
Monica O’Leary keeps one-vote lead in DeKalb’s 7th Ward race lott, whose names appeared on the ballot. The new members will represent a majority on the school board, which oversees the education of 6,245 students at 11 schools in DeKalb, Malta and Cortland, w i t h a $ 7 7 . 2 Fred Davis Jr. million budget. Davis, a DeKalb High School graduate who has three sons who went to district schools, Rick Smith isn’t new to the board. He served on the board from 2007 to 2011 and then lost a re-election bid to keep his seat. Davis said he didn’t plan to run again after losing, but decided to get into the race when it became obvious there weren’t enough candidates to
fill the four open spots. “I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, with the schools’ education budget and how big [the district is] in our town,” he said. “I thought, ‘I’m running as a write-in candidate.’ ” Davis made an effort to get his name out to voters as a write-in candidate ahead of election. “You know, you just go out and talk to your friends and just say, ‘Hey, I really wanted to get on the board this time and just wanted to put my name out there for people,’ ” he said Thursday. “I really appreciate all the work that everybody did to get my name out there – it’s pretty exciting. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear this.” Smith, who has three sons in district schools, said winning in the crowded field was a pleasant surprise. “I just thought it’s my turn
The board faces several fito give back and help the other members of the school board nancial challenges, including to make good decisions,” he said.
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By ERIC R. OLSON eolson@shawmedia.com
and BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Write-in candidates Fred Davis Jr. and Rick Smith emerged Thursday as the final two winners in the seven-way race for seats on DeKalb-based School District 428. DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Doug Johnson certified the results of the April 7 consolidated election Thursday and published vote tallies for individual write-in candidates for the first time. Davis, 53, of DeKalb received 361 votes and Smith, 44, of DeKalb received 289 votes to defeat three other write-in candidates to secure seats on the board of the county’s largest school district. Davis and Smith will join the two top vote-getters, Howard Solomon and Kerry Mel-
Jeff VanGetson, of Integra Business Services, checks the tape for Sycamore’s 5th Precinct as it comes out of the machine during the election certification Thursday at the DeKalb County Administration Building in Sycamore. DeKalb 7th Ward candidate Craig Roman (back from left), Paul Stoddard, DeKalb County Board member, and DeKalb Mayor John Rey look over the final vote totals. Roman lost his race by one vote to Monica O’Leary.
See ELECTION, page A6
WASHINGTON – Blaming the “fog of war,” President Barack Obama revealed Thursday that U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan inadvertently killed an American and an Italian, two hostages held by al-Qaida, as well as two other Americans who had leadership roles with the terror network. Obama somberly said he took full responsibility for the January CIA strikes and regretted the deaths of hostages Warren Weinstein of Rockville, Maryland, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker. The president cast the incident as a tragic consequence of the special difficulties of the fight against terrorists. The incident is likely to spark fresh scrutiny of Obama’s frequent use of drones to target terrorists and his pledge to strike only when there is “near certainty” that no civilians will be harmed. Weinstein, who was captured as he neared the end of a contract assignment with the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Lo Porto were killed during a drone strike against an al-Qaida compound in Pakistan, near the Afghan border. U.S. officials said the compound was targeted because intelligence showed it was frequented by al-Qaida leaders. That same intelligence offered no indication the hostages were there, the officials said. Ahmed Farouq, a dual U.S.-Pakistani national who was an al-Qaida operations leader in Pakistan, was killed in the strike, along with a small number of members of the terror organization, the officials said. Adam Gadahn, an American who served as an al-Qaida spokesman, was killed in a separate strike on a second compound. “It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally and our fight against terrorists specifically, mistakes – sometimes deadly mistakes – can occur,” Obama said at the White House.
See HOSTAGES, page A6
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