One of the five Wheaton College football players charged in a hazing incident is expected to strike a plea deal Thursday.
Noah Spielman, 21, was expected to enter a plea, prosecutors said, declining to reveal further details of the deal.
Spielman, of Columbus, Ohio, is charged with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint in connection with a hazing incident that occurred in March 2016, authorities said.
He and four other football players are accused of forcibly taking a freshman teammate from his dorm, tying him up with duct tape, beating him and then leaving him half-naked in a baseball field, officials said.
Investigators and the victim’s attorney say the freshman player, who identified himself as Charles Nagy, had tears in his shoulders from the incident that required surgeries to repair.
Last week, the Chicago Tribune reported Nagy filed a lawsuit against Wheaton College and seven players – not including Spielman, who is the son of former NFL linebacker Chris Spielman.
That lawsuit alleges that freshman players were regularly hazed and the team’s coach as well as school officials were aware of the hazing.
Spielman was expected to appear before a judge at the DuPage County Courthouse Thursday morning.