The third of five former Wheaton College football players charged in a campus hazing incident pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery count Tuesday in DuPage County court.
Samuel TeBos, 22, of Allendale, Mich., was sentenced to a year of conditional discharge and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, which is to include at least 25 hours talking to groups about the dangers of hazing.
TeBos, accompanied by his parents, admitted guilt to the charge in a brief hearing before Judge Brian Telander. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped other charges.
TeBos was given the same sentence that two of his former football teammates — Kyler Kregel and Noah Spielman — received in negotiated pleas with DuPage prosecutors.
The cases against James Cooksey and Benjamin Pettway remain pending.
The five were charged last year with several felonies, including aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint, in the March 2016 incident that started in a college dorm room. The five, who were then members of the team, are alleged to have entered the room before striking a freshman player named Charles Nagy. The group then bound the player’s arms with duct tape and put a pillowcase over his head before taking him to a pickup truck.
They allegedly left Nagy semi-naked on a local baseball diamond. The player said he suffered torn muscles in his shoulders from having his arms bound, and the injuries required surgery.
During the court hearing, TeBos admitted that he was the player who bound Nagy and placed the pillowcase over his head.
TeBos’ attorney, Todd Pugh, said his client did not have any malicious intent.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.