Former student pleads guilty to hazing in fraternity pledge’s death

A former student of the Virginia Commonwealth University pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges in connection to the death of a 19-year-old fraternity pledge. 

The pledge, Adam Oakes, was found dead in February with a blood alcohol content of .40 after he was allegedly given a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and told to drink it in its entirety as part of initiation into Delta Chi.

Andrew White, 23, pleaded guilty to hazing and serving alcohol to a minor in Richmond Circuit Court on Tuesday, two charges that are punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Ten other members were arrested in connection to Oakes’s death following the initiation event. White, who prosecutors identified as Oaks’s “big brother” in the fraternity, is the first to plead guilty in the case.

The 23-year-old was not sentenced on Tuesday.

Oakes’s family members, including his parents, Eric and Linda, and his cousin, Courtney White, attended the Tuesday plea hearing.

“As much as we want to see this plea as a glimmer of hope in Adam’s case, it is only one of 11,” said Courtney said, according to WRIC, an ABC affiliate in Richmond, Va. “The pain and heartache has only just begun and there is such a long road ahead for our family. We hold tight to Adam’s memory and let that drive our actions toward change against hazing.”