4th Wheaton College Player Enters Guilty Plea In Hazing

WHEATON, IL — The fourth ex-Wheaton College football player has entered a guilty plea in the 2016 hazing of an underclassman. James Cooksey, 23, joins three of his former teammates in pleading to a misdemeanor charge and having the remaining felony charges against them dropped, Daily Herald reports.

As part of Cooksey's plea deal, he must be under court supervision for one month.

Cooksey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted unlawful restraint, according to Daily Herald, a different offense than his fellow teammates Kyler Kregel, Samuel TeBos, and Noah Spielman. Spielman, TeBos, and Kregel each pleaded guilty to charges of misdemeanor battery.

The fifth and final accused teammate, Benjamin Pettway, is set to go to trial in early 2019.

All five teammates were indicted in September in the 2016 hazing of Charles Nagy, an underclassman and fellow Wheaton College football player. The men were initially charged with restraining Nagy, beating him, kidnapping him, and leaving him partially clothed on a nearby baseball field.

Nagy's attorneys assert he required surgery on both his shoulders, which he says were torn during the alleged attack. In turn, one defense attorney is pursuing evidence he claims proves Nagy's shoulders were hurt prior to the 2016 hazing incident.

Image via DuPage County State's Attorney's Office

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