Two Former Beta Theta Pi Brothers Get Sentences Changed from Jail to House Arrest

Two former Beta Theta Pi brothers, who were the first to receive jail time resulting from guilty pleas related to the 2017 hazing death of Penn State sophomore Timothy Piazza, have been resentenced to house arrest.

Joshua Kurczewski, who pleaded guilty to one count each of hazing, conspiracy to commit hazing, and furnishing alcohol to a minor in January and was sentenced three to nine months of jail time in early April, will now receive intermediate punishment for nine months, including three months of house confinement.

He was ordered to pay a $2,250 fine and perform 100 hours of community service, and his one year of probation following intermediate punishment is still in effect.

At Kurczewski’s sentencing on April 2, Centre County Judge Brian Marshall indicated Kurczewski was not eligible for the intermediate punishment program and house arrest because he did not reside in Pennsylvania. In a post-sentencing motion, his attorney, Jeffrey Veitch, wrote that the out-of-state residency was a misunderstanding. While Kurczewski is now a student at the University of Ohio, his permanent residence is at his parents’ home in Erie.

Michael Bonatucci, who pleaded guilty to three counts of hazing and one count of conspiracy to commit hazing in January, was originally sentenced in April to 30 days of jail time. Marshall’s order for resentencing was not immediately available through the county court’s filing system, however, according to WTAJ, Bonatucci will now serve six months of intermediate punishment, including 30 days of home confinement.

He was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and perform 100 hours of community service. His two years of probation following intermediate punishment is still in effect.

Bonatucci resides in Georgia and at the time of his sentencing on April 2 did not have a residence in Pennsylvania to serve out house arrest under an intermediate punishment program. In a post-sentence motion, his attorney, Rocco Cipparone, offered that Bonatucci could serve house arrest in Georgia by using a third-party monitoring company that works with the Georgia Department of Probation. Cipparone wrote that Bonatucci also could serve the sentence in Erie at the home of the parents of another defendant, Joseph Sala, who also received a house arrest sentence, or at the Phoenixville home of his civil attorneys, who are representing him on behalf of the Bonatuccis’ homeowners’ insurer.

Cipparone wrote that a sentence of house arrest would still fall under the aggravated sentence range.

Kurczewski and Bonatucci both played roles in the fraternity’s bid acceptance night when Piazza was given 18 drinks in an 82-minute span. Kurczewski was accused of handing beers to pledges during a drinking obstacle course event called “the gauntlet” and witnessing Piazza fall down the stairs, while Bonatucci provided four pledges, none of whom were Piazza, beers to shotgun.

Both former Beta Theta Pi brothers had more serious charges, including aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter, either dismissed or withdrawn through the process of this case.

The other defendant who was sentenced to jail time, Luke Visser, filed a motion earlier this week to have his jail sentence switched to house arrest and the duration of two to six months to be reduced.