BATON ROUGE (WVLA) – Matthew Naquin has been sentenced to five years in prison, three years probation and 1,000 hours of community service.
Naquin was scheduled to be sentenced on October 16th but then pushed back due to an illness in his family.
The 21-year-old was found guilty of negligent homicide in July for his role in the fatal overdose of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver that happened in 2017.
Investigators say Naquin forced Gruver to drink grain alcohol during a hazing ritual known as “bible study” then did not take him to a hospital when he became unresponsive.
Soon after his death, the Max Gruver Act, along with other anti-hazing legislation, was signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards in 2018 and applies to fraternities, sororities, athletic groups, and student organizations.
The act addresses “criminal hazing,” making it a punishable offense with a fine up to $10,000 dollar fine along with jail time.