4 plead guilty in hazing death, begin jail terms

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/29/BAGPGFFTD31.DTL

Greg Lucas, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, October 29, 2005

Sacramento -- Four former fraternity members charged with involuntary manslaughter for the February hazing death of a Chico State University student pleaded guilty Friday in Butte County Superior Court.

After the defendants apologized to the victim's family, they were handcuffed and taken to county jail to immediately begin serving their sentences, which ranged from 90 days to one year.

The four were charged in the Feb. 2 death of 21-year-old Pleasant Hill resident Matthew Carrington from water intoxication after a late night hazing ritual.

"My actions killed a good person. I will be a felon for the rest of my life and will have to live with that disability, but I am alive and Matt is not," Gabriel John Maestretti, 22, told the court in a statement.

Maestretti pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will serve one year in county jail and remain on probation an additional five years.

"I accept my punishment with the hope it will serve as a warning to others not to follow the path that I did," he said. "I would ask for Matt's family's forgiveness, but I cannot because I don't deserve it. I can only say I am truly sorry."

Jerry Ming Lim, 25, and John Paul Fickes, 19, both pleaded guilty to felony charges of being accessories to involuntary manslaughter and will serve six months in jail followed by five years of probation.

The fourth defendant, Carlos Abrille, 22, pleaded guilty to hazing and will serve 90 days in jail followed by three years of probation.

All four defendants read statements condemning hazing.

"Hazing is not funny. It is not cute. It is stupid and dangerous. It is not about brotherhood but about power and control," Maestretti said.

Each defendant's probation is also conditioned on participating in anti-hazing efforts.

Carrington's father, Michael, his ex-wife, Debbie Smith, and her husband, Greg, also spoke.

"I can't believe my son Matt is gone forever," Carrington's father told the court. "I want to be able to touch, to hold and to talk to my son, but I cannot. Your arrogance destroyed a beautiful human being."

Carrington said the guilty pleas brought him no comfort.

"And hopefully your admission of guilt will be of no comfort to you either. I want you to remember that you didn't accidentally kill a pledge. You killed Matthew William Carrington. Remember his name always."

Carrington's parents have also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity, 10 of its members and the fraternity's national chapter, Delta Sigma Phi.

Carrington and Michael Quintana, 20, were rushing the rogue Chi Tau fraternity, which had been tossed off campus for serving alcohol to minors.

On the night of Feb. 1, during the two pledges' "Hell Week," fraternity members forced Carrington and Quintana to perform calisthenics and stand on one foot atop a bench in the fraternity's dank basement while drinking and dousing themselves with almost 30 gallons of water as large fans blasted them with cold air.

The two young men were forced to pass a five-gallon jug back and forth, drinking and performing push-ups each time they incorrectly answered trivia questions posed by Chi Tau members.

Carrington suffered hypothermia and collapsed. He died two hours later of water intoxication from ingesting too much fluid, causing his brain to swell.

Standing in court next to a large photo of Carrington and an empty five-gallon water jug, Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey described the case as "tragic" for all parties.

"Hopefully, this prosecution and the significant sentences that were imposed today send a message that hazing is a crime that has serious consequences for its perpetrators," Ramsey said.

In an interview, Carrington's father said if Maestretti "believes what he said in court, then I think he'll be a strong person to fight hazing."

Carrington's father has created the Matthew Carrington Project to promote awareness of student-on-student violence, such as collegiate hazing and elementary school bullying.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/29/BAGPGFFTD31.DTL

E-mail Greg Lucas at glucas@sfchronicle.com.