Nearly four months after the assault on John Brantl '05, two of the five alleged University of Pennsylvania assailants officially entered an 18-month probationary program.
Penn sophomore Thomas Bispham and freshman David Hochfelder appeared before court at the Criminal Justice Center on Friday morning to receive their sentences.
They entered a program called Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition. Bispham and Hochfelder will undergo counseling for alcohol abuse and anger management, said District Attorney Richard Boyd and James DeLeon, supervising judge of the criminal division of municipal court.
The two Penn students will also have to pay several fines for the incident. Each has to pay $250 in restitution damages, part of which will be given to Brantl. They also face $1,000 fines each, which will be given to Philadelphia's Victim's Compensation Fund and Domestic Violence Fund.
The assailants' records will be expunged after they pay the fines and complete the 18-month probationary program.
Brantl declined to comment on the situation.
Originally, the cases involved five alleged attackers, but a Philadelphia Municipal Court dropped all charges on Feb. 21 against freshman Philip Balderston, sophomore Tavraj Banga and senior Steven Stolk.
The charges against Bispham and Hochfelder were also lessened from felonies to misdemeanors, which gave them the chance to complete probation and have their records expunged instead of serving jail time, the Associated Press reported.
At first the students were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person's life, terroristic threats and conspiracy to commit a crime.
While Friday's proceedings end the civil and criminal components of the case, all Penn students involved in the incident still face charges through Penn's Office of Student Conduct. That investigation is ongoing and separate from the criminal proceedings.
The charges stem from the Nov. 16 incident when the five Penn students allegedly kicked Brantl, poured motor oil on him and threatened to light him on fire. Brantl was at Penn for the weekend for a debate tournament.
The Penn students turned themselves in a week after the incident. They were released on $10,000 bail each.
The alleged attackers were all involved with Penn's secretive Owl Society, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. The Owl Society is an underground alternative to Greek life at Penn.
Bispham, Banga and Stolk are current members, while Hochfelder and Balderston are prospective Owl members, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported.
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