Former Baylor School and Wheaton College offensive lineman Ben Pettway had all criminal charges dismissed Friday from an alleged hazing incident at the Christian college near Chicago that took place in March 2016 and gained national attention.
Pettway, 23, was charged in September 2017 with nine felony counts but on Friday received a Class C misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, which DuPage County Judge Brian Telander equated to slightly more than a traffic ticket. Telander then dismissed the misdemeanor after labeling Pettway "the least culpable" of the five former Wheaton football players who had been accused of punching and tying up freshman teammate Charles Nagy.
Chattanooga attorney Lee Davis represented Pettway, who grew up on Lookout Mountain and was the chairman of Baylor's honor council and the captain of the Red Raider football team.
"I'm very happy for Ben and the Pettway family that the case was dismissed," Davis said Friday via phone from Chicago. "Before today, there were nine felonies that had been charged, and the state moved to dismiss all of those with the recommendation that we accept responsibility on disorderly conduct. We did that and presented to the judge what we believed was mitigation, and the judge went ahead and dismissed the disorderly conduct today upon the payment of court costs.
"Ben has no convictions on his record, which is very important that the public knows that and that this will be expunged from his record. He has maintained his innocence throughout this case, and ultimately the state came to see it for what it was, which was a prank among teammates, and then the alleged victim in the case made up injuries that were just not true."
Three other former Wheaton players who were charged with nine felonies - Kyler Kregal, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos - pleaded guilty last year to Class A misdemeanor battery. A fourth, James Cooksey, pleaded guilty last year to Class A misdemeanor attempted unlawful restraint.
Spielman is the son of former Ohio State All-American and former Detroit Lions All-Pro linebacker Chris Spielman, who has since worked as an NFL analyst on Fox Sports. That added to the attention the case received.
Nagy claimed he suffered labral tears in both shoulders that required surgery when he was removed from his dorm room on March 19, 2016, and taken to a Wheaton elementary school field. Davis argued that Nagy's injury pre-existed and searched in recent months through hours of Nagy's video from high school until finding the play in which the shoulder injury was sustained.
"This has been a long battle for the truth, and finally my name has been cleared," Pettway said. "For three years, the facts in this case have not changed, and my stance has not wavered. The evidence in this case has proven I am not guilty of the felony allegations against me. As to the Class C misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, I pled no contest in order to bring this case to a close for the sake of my family and me.
"My only regret is that the accuser chose to distort and misrepresent a good, spirited prank as alleged crimes. I am thankful the case and all charges against me have been dismissed. The truth has prevailed."
Davis did express disappointment that the charges against Pettway generated more headlines than Friday's verdict.
"When you have someone who makes up a story, the stain happens immediately," he said. "When the dismissal happens much later after the fact, it's very hard for the person accused to get their reputation back to the same place. That's a real shame, because it's not supposed to be that way, but in reality that's how it is.
"This has been a long investigation, and a large majority of the allegations were false."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@dpaschalltimesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.