A U.S. Secret Service agent and two other men have been arrested and charged with violent felonies in connection with brutal beatings during a fraternity hazing ritual in April that left two individuals hospitalized.
Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, a Secret Service agent in the Miami field office, is described in an arrest warrant as a "dean of pledges" for a Miami chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. The Secret Service confirmed Pinder has been an agent since 2023 and stated the agency is cooperating with investigators. Pinder has been placed on administrative leave.
The three men face felony charges including hazing with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with great bodily harm, and attempted manslaughter, according to the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office. Authorities uncovered evidence of "alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles."
Court documents indicate one victim, a University of Miami graduate student, required skin grafts for severe injuries to his backside and suffered kidney damage, which could have been fatal without medical intervention. A second victim, also identified as a young man, was hospitalized and intubated to prevent further physical deterioration, with medical records showing injuries to his backside.
According to Pinder's arrest warrant, the graduate student reported that he and another young man were beaten by Pinder and the other defendants over four nights in early April. The beatings reportedly began when the victims failed to answer questions about the fraternity correctly. The warrant states the paddling stopped when blood seeped through one victim's pants, and that fraternity leaders instructed the victims to discard their clothing.
"In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime," State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds."
Florida law makes hazing a felony punishable by up to five years in prison if it results in serious injury or death. The law was strengthened following the 2001 death of a University of Miami freshman who drowned after fraternity-related activities.
Pinder was released from jail after posting a $75,000 bond and is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 24. Attorneys for the other two men were not immediately listed in court or jail records.