STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Two Penn State fraternities and two students face misdemeanor charges in connection with the death of a Westmoreland County freshman found dead on campus after a night of drinking.
University and State College police on Thursday filed two charges each against the Alpha Tau Omega and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities for allegedly providing 18-year-old Joseph Dado with alcohol on Sept. 19 and 20.
Facing the same charges are a 21-year-old male who hosted Dado and a 21-year-old female who authorities say bought vodka for Dado earlier in the weekend.
Police said Jennifer Clifford -- the sister of a classmate -- bought vodka for Dado to drink on Sept. 19.
Police said Dado drank while visiting Alpha Tau Omega fraternity before receiving a text invite from friend John "Jack" Townsend to join him at Phi Gamma Delta fraternity on Sept. 20.
Dado graduated from Greater Latrobe High School, where he played soccer. Police said he was found dead early Sept. 20 after falling onto a concrete stairwell about 75 yards from Phi Gamma Delta.
An autopsy revealed Dado's blood-alcohol level was 0.169 percent when he died. As a comparison, the legal limit for a driver of drinking age in Pennsylvania is 0.08 percent.
Greater Latrobe soccer coach John Huemme told Channel 4 Action News reporter Jennifer Miele that he was surprised to hear about charges being filed, but he's glad that someone is being held accountable.
"I didn't really think that any blame would go anywhere. I thought it was going to ride out and just be called an accident," said Huemme.
He also said this is a tough lesson for the current soccer team to learn, now that one of their friends is dead at such a young age.
"When it first happened, we gave them a few days off practice. We had a couple practices that weren't regimented at all, and we gave them a chance if anyone wanted to come up and talk to either coaches just to come up and chat," said Huemme.
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