A Cranberry Township native pleaded guilty Thursday in Athens County, Ohio to charges in connection with the 2018 death of an Ohio University student.

Cullen Willi McLaughlin, 21, was sentenced to participate in the Athens County Empowerment program, a rehabilitation program for those pleading guilty to low-level offenses, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of LSD, a fifth-degree felony in Ohio.

Those charges were filed against McLaughlin following an investigation into the November 2018 hazing of a Sigma Pi Fraternity student at Ohio University. According to Ohio media, that student, 18-year-old Collin Lewis Wiant, died of asphyxiation at 45 Mill St. in Athens, Ohio, where several fraternity brothers lived.

While participating in the ACE program, McLaughlin's guilty plea will be held in abeyance. Upon successful completion of the program, the case against McLaughlin would be dismissed, according to the Athens County prosecutor's office.

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