Seven Lehigh football players admitted to ARD program, criminal trials canceled

Editor’s note: This article was updated June 9 to include information on Brian Githens. It was originally published May 18.

Brian Githens, one of the Lehigh football players involved in a November 2015 house break-in, was admitted into an accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program June 3, per public court documents.

All seven of the Lehigh football players involved in the break-in have now been granted admission into ARD. The other six, Noah Robb, ’16, Dylan Parsons, ’19, Mark Walker, ’19, Michael Gies, ’19, Jacob Scott, ’19, and Maxwell Frankel, ’19, were admitted into the program April 29. The criminal trials for all seven men have also been canceled.

Under Pennsylvania law, first-time offenders who qualify for ARD can complete the program to avoid further punishment and an official conviction. The arrest is also cleared from their criminal record after completion of the program.

According to the documents, the ARD program will require the other six men to complete 30 hours of community service within a 12-month period, which began on April 29 when the ARD penalties were imposed. The hours must be verified by probation officer Amy Moss. However, the penalties for Githens’ ARD program were not specified in the court documents.

Six of the men’s trials were canceled May 5, and Githens’ trial was canceled June 8. The trial for Robb and Parsons was originally set to be Aug. 1, the trial for Walker, Gies and Scott had been set for Sept. 6, and the trial for Frankel and Githens had been scheduled for Oct. 3.

Githens had been facing charges of simple assault, criminal mischief and a felony count of burglary, according to the documents. The documents state the other six men were facing charges of criminal trespass.