Five Middlebury students admitted guilt in a plea bargain Tuesday morning to stealing various items, including composite photos and personal keepsakes, from Greek houses the night of April 14 and morning of April 15.
Four of the five also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of alcohol. That is classified as a violation, as opposed to a misdemeanor, under state law.
As part of the plea agreement negotiated with prosecutor Charlene Beaulieu, the guilty students may not visit Dartmouth until the College agrees to let them back on campus. College Proctor Harry Kinne confirmed that Dartmouth will not allow the students to come back.
In return the students had their theft charge lowered from a Class A to a Class B Misdemeanor, which originally carried with it a $1,000 fine. A Class A Misdemeanor could have meant jail time. But attorney George Spaneas, arguing that his client, rising junior Joseph Freedman, is in good standing with the law, asked for the fine to be lowered to $500, with $500 suspended unless the defendant commits another crime within one year. Judge Albert Cirone decided to compromise with a $650 fine, $350 of which is suspended.
The other four defendants, who waived their rights to an attorney, also received the benefit of Spaneas' lobbying. Those students, who all pleaded guilty to both theft and unlawful possession, included 20-year-old Robert White of Colorado Springs, Colo., 18-year-old Sakal Heng of Lakewood, Colo., 19-year-old Joshua White of Marion, Mass. and 19-year-old Jeffrey Pello of Sudbury, Mass.
The unlawful possession charge carried with it a $500 fine, with an additional penalty assessment of $100. The penalty assessment for the $650 theft fine was $140. Thus, those who plead to both counts paid $1,390 in fines. As Cirone said to the students in court, they will most likely need summer jobs to pay off their fines.
Receipts in their court records indicated that all five paid their appropriate fines.
While entering their plea, the judge asked if they wanted to speak in their defense, an offer Heng took first.
"I just want to get it over with," Heng said as he went on to apologize for the incident.
Joshua White said he was "ashamed" of his actions, Pello said he was "embarrassed," and Robert White said he was "extremely sorry."
"It's just been weighing on all of us," Freedman said.
Cirone said the fact that the thefts went on for a period of time bothered him, asking Beaulieu to read off the Greek houses they entered and stole items from. She gave a partial list that included Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, Zeta Psi fraternity, Chi Heorot fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Phi Tau coed fraternity.
Cirone was also bothered by the apparent coordination between the Middlebury students. He read aloud that according to Hanover Police Chief Captain Frank Moran, Freedman told him that they communicated with each other via cellular phones.
Hanover Police caught the group, which included two others who were not at the arraignment, during several incidents the morning of April 15. Officers pulled over the car of students for driving without headlights, but discovered several stolen items in the process and placed those inside the car under arrest, including Freedman in the passenger seat, and Robert White in the backseat.
Pello was found at 11 West Wheelock Street and placed under arrest for unlawful possession, which authorities later commuted into a theft charge. Joshua White was found on 26 South Park Street and asked to be taken to the police department to find his friends, when he too was implicated in the thefts.
All the items stolen were returned to the proper Greek houses.
Beaulieu was unable to be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hall, a 20-year-old rising junior from Denver, Colo. facing only the Class A Misdemeanor theft charge, was the only member of the group to plead not guilty. Hall's trial date was set for Aug. 4 in Lebanon District Court, and he was released on $5000 personal recognizance bail. Hall too is bound by the Safety and Security restriction.
Kinne expressed appreciation and satisfaction over the case's outcome.
"One, I'm glad that they were caught, two, that the various material they stole was returned, and three, that they were convicted," Kinne said. "I think it's appropriate."
The attire of the students differed greatly from that of others in court Tuesday morning. The Middlebury students were impeccably dressed in collared shirts and ties. Outside the courthouse prior to the arraignment, a crooked-toothed gentleman dressed in T-shirt and jeans appearing for a small drug charge marveled at Hall's attorney arriving in a BMW. The man, no stranger to district court with several prior convictions, said a BMW-driving lawyer is a rare sight in Lebanon.
The students told Cirone that they were disciplined by Middlebury College. The students told the Dartmouth their punishment was a result of Safety and Security releasing their names to Middlebury.
Middlebury Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Karen Guttentag could neither confirm nor deny that Middlebury disciplined those involved in the incident.
Attempts by the Dartmouth to receive comment from Hall were rebuffed by his attorney, John Kacavas, who advised him to not talk to the press regarding the case.
The other students, who did not have a lawyer, indicated that their only comment to the press was that they are sorry for their actions.
"We're really sorry and we want to apologize," Heng said, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the students who pleaded guilty.
