From the archives: UT hazing leads 3 to jail terms

Jon Hamm, who portrays Don Draper on the hit AMC series "Mad Men," helped brutally initate a male student in 1990 and was charged with hazing while he was a member of the subsequently-disbanded Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin. Pictured, Jon Hamm in the university's Cactus Yearbook's 1990 edition. less Jon Hamm, who portrays Don Draper on the hit AMC series "Mad Men," helped brutally initate a male student in 1990 and was charged with hazing while he was a member of the subsequently-disbanded Sigma Nu ... more Photo: Cactus Yearbook/Texas Student Media Photo: Cactus Yearbook/Texas Student Media Image 1 of / 144 Caption Close From the archives: UT hazing leads 3 to jail terms 1 / 144 Back to Gallery

Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the San Antonio Light on July 10, 1991 and details a high-profile hazing incident inolving then-fraternity member Jon Hamm, now an actor best-known for his role as Don Draper in the AMC hit series "Mad Men." This article details the incident and charges levied following the incident.

AUSTIN — Three members of a now-outlawed University of Texas fraternity were sentenced to jail Tuesday for beating a pledge in an initiation ritual, authorities said.

Three other fraternities were fined $10,000 each for unrelated hazing incidents in connection with an investigation by Travis County Attorney Ken Oden into misconduct by fraternities on the UT campus last fall.

"I believe this will bring to a close a very troublesome chapter in the history of fraternities at the University of Texas, " Oden said.

Four members of the outlawed Sigma Nu fraternity pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing charges, and Oden's office filed multiple hazing charges against four other fraternity members, including two from San Antonio.

The founder of a national anti-hazing group in Sayville, N.Y., praised the outcome, calling the imposition of jail time "very significant."

The four individuals who entered into plea bargains with Oden's office were accused of beating Mark Sanders, a pledge from Fort Worth, with a paddle and a broom last fall and leading him around the fraternity house with the claw of a hammer beneath his genitals.

Pleading no contest to Class B misdemeanor charges of hazing were Matthew Dennis, a senior from Kingwood; Richard Asel, a sophomore from Plano; Todd Bowden, a sophomore from Dallas; and Christopher Temple of Houston, who graduated in 1989.

Dennis, Temple, and Asel were ordered to serve time in jail and fined $500 and court costs as part of the plea bargains. Dennis and Temple will serve 30 days each and Asel 15 days.

Bowden received a probationary sentence and a $500 fine.

Meanwhile, multiple counts of hazing charges were filed against four other former Sigma Nu members. They are Jonathan Hamm of St. Louis; Charles Stidham of San Antonio; Henry Gonzales of San Antonio; and Charles Lano of Spring.

Oden said he would demand stiffer sentences for the four, calling them the "most serious offenders."