Ex-FAMU band member gets 1 year in hazing death
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A former Florida A&M University band member has become the first person to be sentenced to jail time for his role in the hazing death of a drum major.
Jessie Baskin was sentenced Friday to 51 weeks in the county jail, five years of probation and 300 hours of community service for participating in the beating death of 26-year-old Robert Champion in November 2011.
Champion of Decatur, Ga., died during a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.
Prosecutors say band members beat him with fists and instruments.
Baskin had faced nine years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter in November.
Judge Marc Lubet said he thought the 22-year-old Baskin was remorseful and hoped a year in jail will get the word out that “hazing will not be tolerated.”
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