Brian Jones was given six months of community control, which strictly limits his freedom with measures including an ankle monitor and frequent check-ins with probation officials. Following that, the 23-year-old from Parrish, Fla., will serve another two years of probation. He’s also required to perform 200 hours of community service.
Judge Marc Lubet said Jones’s role in the hazing death of Robert Champion was relatively minimal and that Jones did not beat or hit Champion. Champion died last November after being beaten by fellow band members during a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel after a football game.
“This young man’s part in this horrible act … as compared with many others from what I’ve seen is minimal,” Lubet said. “It was an isolated incident in this man’s life for which he’s shown remorse.”
Defense attorney Alisia Adamson noted that only two of the 90 witnesses even said he was on the bus.
Eleven other band members are awaiting trial on felony hazing charges, while another band member faces a misdemeanor hazing count.
Jones had entered a no-contest plea Oct. 9 to the third-degree felony hazing charge after initially pleading not guilty. The maximum penalty for the charge was five years in prison.
