Secret Service hazing case: Agent charged after alleged frat beatings
A Florida Secret Service agent and two men face charges after prosecutors said University of Miami pledges were beaten for days.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
A Secret Service hazing case in Florida has put a federal agent on administrative leave after prosecutors said two University of Miami fraternity pledges were beaten over several days, with one victim’s injuries nearly turning fatal.
Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, a Secret Service agent assigned in Florida, was arrested along with Jared Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, officials said. All three were in custody Monday, according to NBC News.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the men were booked on suspicion of attempted manslaughter with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and hazing with a deadly weapon.
Pinder has been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement from Special Agent in Charge Michael Townsend, who leads the Secret Service’s Miami field office. Townsend said the agency is fully cooperating with the investigation.
What happened in the Secret Service hazing case?
Prosecutors said the alleged hazing involved repeated beatings with canes and paddles during a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity process tied to the University of Miami in Coral Gables. According to prosecutors, pledges were allegedly beaten after failing to answer fraternity-related questions correctly.
An arrest warrant written by Sweetwater police Detective Kevin Espinosa and Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Detective Alejandro Venturin identified the two pledges only as Victim 1 and Victim 2. The warrant said both were subjected to severe beatings.
Officials said the alleged hazing began April 1 inside an apartment in Sweetwater, Florida, and continued there on April 2 and April 3. Prosecutors said the activity then continued April 4 at a home in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
Pinder was described in the warrant as the fraternity’s “dean of pledges.” NBC News reported that it was not immediately clear how Pinder, at 29, had such close ties to the college fraternity.
Hazing refers to initiation or membership rituals that can involve abuse, coercion or humiliation. In this case, prosecutors allege the conduct crossed into violent criminal acts using weapons.
What injuries did prosecutors describe?
The arrest warrant said Victim 1 needed extensive skin grafts on his backside after tissue there had blackened with necrotic skin or tissue. The warrant said the victim continued to experience extreme pain and discomfort from the alleged beatings.
Investigators wrote that Victim 1’s mobility and quality of life had been significantly affected. The warrant also said that without emergency medical treatment, his injuries would have caused renal failure and death.
Victim 2 told investigators he was not hazed, according to officials, but he acknowledged seeking medical treatment in April for injuries to his backside. The warrant said those injuries resembled Victim 1’s and matched Victim 1’s account that Victim 2 had also been beaten on his backside.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said hazing may be viewed by some as a tradition meant to build belonging and brotherhood, but she said such acts create victims in graves and hospital beds.
NBC News reported that it was not immediately known whether Pinder, James or Dyous had retained or been assigned criminal defense attorneys to speak for them.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.