Ex-Wheaton College football player expected to plead in hazing scandal
One of five former Wheaton College football players accused in a 2016 hazing scandal is expected to plead to charges this week.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Noah Spielman, the 21-year-old son of former Ohio State and All-Pro NFL linebacker Chris Spielman from Columbus, Ohio, will enter a plea Thursday morning in DuPage County court.
Exactly which charges he will plead to remains unclear because prosecutors said they will not disclose details until Thursday morning. But in September, a grand jury approved a nine-count indictment against Spielman and four teammates for aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint.
Prosecutors say Spielman is the only of the five expected to plead out Thursday.
Each of the men previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Spielman's attorney, Mark Sutter, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Spielman, Kyler Kregal from Grand Rapids, Michigan; Ben Pettway from Lookout Mountain, Georgia; Samuel TeBos from Allendale, Michigan; and James Cooksey of Jacksonville, Florida, are accused of abducting Charles Nagy, now 21, from his dorm on March 19, 2016, putting a pillowcase over his head, tying him with duct tape, repeatedly punching and kicking him, and then leaving him partially nude on a baseball field near Hawthorne Elementary School in Wheaton.
Nagy filed a lawsuit last week against Wheaton College and all of the players charged.