USU student pleads guilty to supplying alcohol to minor, hazing charge dropped

LOGAN — Another one of the Utah State University students charged in connection with the alcohol poisoning death of fraternity pledge Michael Starks has reached an agreement with prosecutors.

Whitney Katherine Miller, 19, pled guilty to unlawful supply of alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor, during a change of plea hearing Wednesday, according to court records. During the hearing prosecutors agreed to drop a hazing charge against Miller, court records indicate.

Judge Thomas Willmore set Miller's sentencing for June 15.

Starks, 18, died after participating in an initiation ceremony for the then-USU chapter of Sigma Nu. The initiation involved Starks and another pledge being "kidnapped" by the Chi Omega sorority women. An affidavit of probable cause states the pledges were stripped down to their boxers and painted in USU school colors.

Sometime during the activity, they began drinking, prosecutors say. They returned to the fraternity house already heavily intoxicated, and a few hours later, Starks was found unconscious and not breathing.

Starks was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward.

Grant Arthur Barney, 22, pleaded guilty last month to obstructing justice, a class B misdemeanor, and was sentenced Monday to serve eight days in jail and pay a $1,025 fine. Barney will also be on probation for one year and will be required to perform 100 hours of community service.

Last month, student Sadie Green, 19, pleaded no contest to one count of hazing. Charges have been dropped against three of the 12 students originally charged in January.

Six other USU students charged in the case have court dates scheduled in the coming months.

— Ethan Thomas