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Jasper County Fraternity Hazing Attorneys | $24M Pike Settlements Exposed | Attorney911 — Pi Kappa Phi Shut Down | Federal Court | Former Insurance Defense | 1-888-ATTY-911

Earth, Georgia, Jasper County, North America, United States

If you’re reading this, your family may be facing one of the most terrifying moments of your life. Your child was supposed to make friends at college. Instead, they were tortured. They were hazed. We’re here to help families in Jasper County, Georgia, and across the nation fight back.

We are Attorney911, and we understand what you’re going through. The fear, the anger, the confusion – it’s overwhelming. But you are not alone. Our dedicated team specializes in holding fraternities, universities, and individual perpetrators accountable for the devastating harm caused by hazing. We don’t just talk about these cases; we are actively fighting them right now, just like we’re doing for our client who was hospitalized after horrific hazing at a major university. When your child is subjected to abuse, families in Jasper County deserve aggressive, data-driven legal representation that relentlessly pursues justice.

The Haunting Echoes of Hazing: Why Jasper County Families Need to Know

Hazing isn’t a harmless rite of passage. It’s a dangerous, often criminal, act of abuse and assault that inflicts profound physical and psychological trauma. For families in Jasper County, Georgia, who send their children off to colleges and universities across Georgia and the Southeast – institutions like the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Emory University, Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, or even the University of Alabama, Auburn, or Florida State – the illusion of safety can quickly shatter. These institutions, many with vibrant Greek life systems, can become grounds for unimaginable torment.

The very same national fraternities and sororities with documented histories of hazing incidents operate chapters near Jasper County. The cultural pressures, the misguided notions of “brotherhood” or “sisterhood,” and the institutional failures that allow hazing to flourish are not confined to state lines. They exist everywhere students gather, including the colleges and universities where young people from Jasper County pursue their dreams.

We have witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of hazing on young lives and their families. This isn’t just a legal battle for us; it’s a moral imperative. We are committed to exposing the truth, holding every responsible party accountable, and ultimately, creating a safer environment for all students, including those from Jasper County.

The Landmark Case: Attorney911 vs. Pi Kappa Phi & University of Houston (2025) – A Warning for Jasper County

This is not a hypothetical. This is happening right now. Our attorneys are actively engaged in a major legal battle that perfectly illustrates the severity of modern hazing and our unwavering commitment to justice. This case serves as a stark warning to families in Jasper County and a powerful demonstration of how we fight back.

Jasper County Families: What happened in Houston could happen at a university where your child attends. The same fraternities that operate in Jasper County operate nationwide. The same negligence exists at institutions across America. We are bringing the same aggressive representation to our current case that we will bring to your family in Jasper County.

In November 2025, Attorney911 filed a $10 MILLION lawsuit in Harris County Civil District Court, targeting Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, the University of Houston, and 13 individual fraternity members. This case, Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity, Inc., et al., is a cornerstone of our hazing litigation practice.

Media Coverage That Rocked Houston

The disturbing details of this lawsuit immediately captured the attention of major news outlets:

Even Pi Kappa Phi National Headquarters issued a statement on November 21, 2025, confirming they had “closed its Beta Nu Chapter effective November 14, 2025, following violations of the Fraternity’s risk management policy and membership conduct standards.” (https://pikapp.org/pi-kappa-phi-closes-beta-nu-chapter-at-the-university-of-houston/) This statement, issued before our lawsuit went public, speaks volumes.

The Victim: Leonel Bermudez – A Ghost Rush

Our client, Leonel Bermudez, was a “ghost rush.” This means he wasn’t even an enrolled University of Houston student when the hazing took place. He was a prospective, transfer student planning to enroll for the upcoming semester. They did this to someone who wasn’t even their student, extending the reach of their abuse beyond formal enrollment. This fact alone highlights the fraternity’s profound disregard for student welfare and institutional rules, and it should concern any family in Jasper County whose child is considering pledging.

The Horrific Hazing Timeline

Leonel accepted a bid to Pi Kappa Phi on September 16, 2025. What followed was an unrelenting period of systematic abuse and torture that lasted for weeks.

  • September 16, 2025: Leonel accepts bid to Pi Kappa Phi.
  • September 16 – November 3, 2025: Weeks of continuous, brutal hazing.
  • October 13, 2025: Another pledge was hog-tied face-down on a table with an object in his mouth for over an hour. This shows a pattern of extreme degradation.
  • October 15, 2025: During a forced workout, a pledge lost consciousness and collapsed. Other pledges had to elevate his legs to revive him. This was a clear warning sign of the extreme physical risks involved.
  • November 3, 2025: Leonel was subjected to extreme punishment. He was forced to perform over 100 pushups, 500 squats, high-volume “suicides” (running drills), bear crawls, wheelbarrows, “save-your-brother” drills, two-mile warmups, and repeated 100-yard crawls. He was made to recite the fraternity creed while exercising under threat of immediate expulsion. He became so exhausted he could not stand without help.
  • November 4-5, 2025: Leonel was unable to move, his condition worsening.
  • November 6, 2025: His mother rushed him to the hospital, where he was passing brown urine—a critical sign of muscle breakdown. He was diagnosed with severe rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure and spent three nights and four days hospitalized.
  • November 14, 2025: Pi Kappa Phi National Headquarters officially closed the Beta Nu Chapter. This closure occurred seven days before our lawsuit was filed, indicating their awareness of the serious allegations and an attempt to mitigate their liability.
  • November 21, 2025: Our $10 MILLION LAWSUIT was filed in Harris County Civil District Court.

The Hazing Activities: These Aren’t “Fraternity Pranks”

The details of Leonel’s hazing are sickening, and they paint a picture of calculated cruelty, not harmless fun.

  • Waterboarding / Simulated Drowning: Leonel was subjected to “simulated waterboarding with a garden hose,” sprayed in the face while doing calisthenics. As Houston Public Media rightly pointed out, “Waterboarding, which simulates drowning, is a form of torture.” This isn’t a game; it’s a war crime when inflicted on enemy combatants.
  • Forced Eating Until Vomiting: He was made to consume large amounts of milk, hot dogs, and peppercorns until he vomited. Then, he was forced to continue running sprints through his own vomit, demonstrating an extreme level of degradation and psychological violation. He was also made to lie in the vomit-soaked grass after vomiting.
  • Extreme Physical Punishment: Beyond the pushups and squats that led to his kidney failure, he endured high-intensity running drills (“suicides”), bear crawls, wheelbarrows, “save-you-brother” drills, and two-mile warmups. He was struck with wooden paddles. Another pledge even lost consciousness during these grueling workouts.
  • Psychological Torture & Humiliation: Leonel was forced to strip to his underwear in cold weather and carry a fanny pack with objects of a sexual nature. The hog-tying incident involving another pledge underscores the pattern of dehumanization. Threats of expulsion were used to coerce compliance.
  • Sleep Deprivation & Forced Servitude: Forced to drive fraternity members during early morning hours, Leonel suffered extreme exhaustion, which further compromised his physical state.

The Medical Nightmare: Rhabdomyolysis and Kidney Failure

The physical toll of this abuse was severe. Rhabdomyolysis is a dangerous condition where damaged muscle tissue releases harmful proteins into the bloodstream, which can lead to acute kidney failure and even death. Leonel’s brown urine was a classic sign of this muscle breakdown, and very high creatine kinase levels confirmed the extensive damage. His hospitalization for four days was critical to saving his life, but he now faces the ongoing risk of permanent kidney damage.

Ralph Manginello, our lead attorney, knows this medical condition all too well. He has prior experience litigating rhabdomyolysis hazing cases, demonstrating our specific expertise in these complex medical-legal matters.

Institutional Responses: A Pattern of Denial, Not Responsibility

The statements from both the University of Houston and Pi Kappa Phi national headquarters reveal a familiar pattern: concern for reputation over actual accountability.

The University of Houston spokesperson called the events “deeply disturbing” and a “clear violation of our community standards,” noting “potential criminal charges.” This acknowledgement of serious wrongdoing is a crucial admission for our case, but it came only after the damage