Three men, including an active U.S. Secret Service agent, are now facing serious felony charges in connection with what Miami-area authorities describe as a violent hazing ritual that sent two people to the hospital with potentially fatal injuries.
The Secret Service agent, 29-year-old Marquez Christopher Pinder, works out of the agency’s Miami field office. Court documents identify him as a “dean of pledges” for a Miami chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Pinder has been with the Secret Service since 2023, according to agency spokesman Matt Fagiana.
After posting a $75,000 bond on Monday, Pinder was released from custody and is scheduled to appear before a judge on September 24. The Secret Service confirmed it is cooperating with investigators and has placed Pinder on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.
All three men were charged last week after police gathered evidence of what the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office described as “alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles.”
The charges are severe — each man faces felony counts of hazing with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, and attempted manslaughter.
According to court documents, a University of Miami graduate student and a second young man were beaten over four consecutive nights in early April at an apartment and a home located off campus. The beatings allegedly began when the victims failed to correctly answer questions about the fraternity and its history.
The violence reportedly stopped on the fourth night only after one victim was visibly bleeding through his clothing. Fraternity leaders then allegedly instructed both victims to remove their clothes and place them in garbage bags before leaving.
The injuries were severe. One victim developed vomiting, high fevers, and extreme pain before being admitted to a hospital, where he needed skin grafts on his backside and treatment for kidney damage. A police investigator noted in the arrest warrant that without emergency care, “his injuries would have resulted in renal failure leading to death.”
The second victim initially denied being beaten but acknowledged receiving emergency medical treatment in April. His medical records revealed he had been hospitalized for injuries to his backside and had a breathing tube inserted “to prevent further physical deterioration and death,” the warrant stated.
Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle addressed the case directly: “In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime. Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds.”
Michael Townsend, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami field office, issued a statement saying, “Any misconduct will be addressed swiftly and appropriately upon completion of the investigative and judicial process.”
Justin Beckham, an attorney representing Pinder, had not responded to requests for comment as of Monday. No attorneys were listed in court or jail records for the other two men. A spokesman for Kappa Alpha Psi at the fraternity’s Philadelphia headquarters also did not return a message seeking comment.
Florida made hazing a felony offense in 2005, carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison when it results in serious injury or death. The law was enacted following the 2001 drowning death of Chad Meredith, a University of Miami freshman who died after drinking alcohol and attempting to swim across a lake at the urging of fraternity leaders on campus.
