Six UConn students who were arrested for connections to Jeffny Pally’s death were given special probation. (Courtesy/Facebook)
The six University of Connecticut students who were arrested on alcohol-related charges in the case of student Jeffny Pally’s death were given a special probation that, if completed successfully, will allow them to avoid jail time and have their criminal records wiped clean, according to the Hartford Courant.
Pally, 19, was killed by a fire truck responding to a false alarm early Oct. 16. at the fire house where she was leaning against the garage door.
The accelerated rehabilitation program will require the men to perform acts of community service and make a charitable donation during the two-year span of the program.
The six men applied for the rehabilitation program in April, which is designed for first-time non-violent offenders who a judge deems are unlike to commit another crime, according to the Hartford Courant.
The decision was rendered by Rockville Superior Court Judge Carl E. Taylor, who received his Juris Doctor from UConn in 1981.
Patrick Augustin Callahan, 21, of Mansfield, Matthew Aaron Moll, 21, of Mansfield, Dylan P. Morose, 22, of Storrs, and Jonathan Louis Polansky, 22, of West Simsbury, were each charged with eight counts of permitting a minor to illegally possess alcohol.
Dominic Robert Godi, 21, of Bolton, who was 20 at the time of the incident, was charged with possession of alcohol by a minor and conspiracy to commit illegal delivery of alcohol to minors.
Austin Lee Custodio, 21, of Pine Bush, N.Y., was charged with selling and delivering alcohol to minors on Feb. 24.
All men were members of the now-expelled UConn chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Pally had attended an off-campus party thrown by members of the fraternity on the night of her death.
Her blood alcohol content at the time of her death was .25 percent.
Manchester defense attorney for Polansky, Anthony Spinella, told the Hartford Courant he does not believe the men should have been arrested at all.
“I think it’s an appropriate resolution, although I think he (Polansky) never should have gotten arrested in the first place,” Spinella said, ” In fact I don’t think any of them should have gotten arrested.”
Anna Aldrich is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at anna.aldrich@uconn.edu.
