ALBANY, NY (NEWS 10) – A total of seven men have been charged in the 2014 hazing death of University at Albany student Trevor Duffy. 
 
 The men are accused of forcing Duffy to drink a 60-ounce bottle of vodka, leading to his death. 
 
 The fraternity the men say they were part of, Zeta beta Tau, has released a statement denouncing them. 
 
 According to the statement, the men were not a part of the fraternity that is sanctioned by UAlbany. 
 
 The fraternity, based in Indianapolis, has retained legal counsel and is planning to sue the men. 
 
 The full statement reads as follows: 
 
 Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity has no affiliation with the rogue group that illegally used the Zeta Beta Tau name at the University of Albany and is involved in the alleged hazing that resulted in the death of a University of Albany student. The group is not the Epsilon Gamma Chapter of Zeta Beta Tau, which is recognized by the Fraternity and the University as a leader on campus. Rather, these men are a separate rogue group not authorized to use the Zeta Beta Tau name. 
 
 The men allegedly involved in this incident are not, nor have never been, members of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity. This group allegedly involved in the incident is not recognized by the University nor Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity. 
 
 Zeta Beta Tau is retaining counsel for the purposes of filing suit against these individuals who falsely represented themselves, deceiving the public and damaging the otherwise exceptional reputation of our Fraternity. 
 
 Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, ZBT, its symbols, slogans, and materials are protected by United States Copyright and Trademark law and Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, Inc. has the sole and exclusive right to license the use of its copyrights and trademarks. Anyone found to be engaged in unauthorized use of ZBT’s intellectual property (including, but not limited to, representing themselves as a member of a chapter or undergraduate member of ZBT at University at Albany or using copyrighted or trademarked materials, or wearing ZBT letters) may be subject to legal action. ||||| An Albany police car sits outside 461 Hamilton Street at the scene of an alleged underage drinking party Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 18, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. Police responded to a call early Sunday morning and found five intoxicated 19-year-old men, all University at Albany students. One of them, Trevor Duffy, 19, of Bronx, died Monday at Albany Medical Center after excessive alcohol consumption.The other students were treated and released from area hospitals. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union) less An Albany police car sits outside 461 Hamilton Street at the scene of an alleged underage drinking party Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 18, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. Police responded to a call early Sunday morning and ... more Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN Buy photo Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close UAlbany student death: Fatal hazing details in court 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 Albany 
 
 Hours before the Nov. 15 party that lead to his death from alcohol poisoning, University at Albany student Trevor Duffy was promised by the brothers of an underground fraternity that no one was ever killed while pledging, according to court documents. 
 
 After a night of being forced to consume a handle, or a bottle with about 60 ounces, of Belvedere Vodka, the 19-year-old sophomore from the Bronx was found unconscious and ashen in a bathroom at the clandestine fraternity's house at 461 Hamilton St. in Pine Hills. He died Nov. 17 at Albany Medical Center Hospital. 
 
 As a few friends frantically tried to save Duffy, the brothers argued over whether to call police for help, according to one student's testimony. 
 
 The details of Duffy's death and the hazing rituals are contained in hundreds of pages of court papers tied to efforts in state Supreme Court by two expelled students be let back into college. The men were two of 24 sanctioned during university's investigation and disciplinary hearing. UAlbany spokesman Karl Luntta said not all 24 were expelled, but he would not comment on the discipline of individual students. 
 
 The university's investigation charged about 19 unsanctioned Zeta Beta Tau members with drug, alcohol and student group violations, as well as threatening and abusive behavior, endangerment, hazing and disruptive conduct, according to court records. In one student's account of the university hearing several of the pledges were overheard in the waiting room discussing how they would protect their brothers at any cost and target those they held grudges against. 
 
 After Albany police launched an investigation, the department said that in order to be considered hazing — a crime — police must confirm that the drinking was part of an initiation or ritual and that a victim was intentionally put in danger. 
 
 The UAlbany's disciplinary process found that Duffy's death was the result of hazing, according to university documents contained in the court papers on file. 
 
 There have been no arrests, and the ongoing police investigation is awaiting toxicology reports, department spokesman Officer Steve Smith. 
 
 ZBT lost its recognition in the fall of 1997 but continued to operate underground, according to the court documents. In 2011, the group re-formed on campus with approval from UAlbany and ZBT national headquarters. The new chapter is not connected with the underground fraternity involved in Duffy's death. A few pledges said in the documents that they were confused by there being two fraternities with the same name. 
 
 The two students disputing their expulsion and asking a Supreme Court justice to overturn the university's decision, Zachary Gaylis, a senior, and Keith Rosengarten, a sophomore, say the combined cases of the 24 students prevented them from a fair and partial hearing, among other issues. Their appeal to the university was denied. Gaylis and Rosengarten's attorneys declined to comment. 
 
 Testimony from other students, which was not always sworn, states Gaylis was not at the Nov. 16 party but was involved in previous hazing rituals. Rosengarten was at the party and was Duffy's "big," denoting a big brother, someone who should have been watching over Duffy's intake of alcohol, according to students in the court documents. 
 
 The Nov. 15 event, which ran into Nov. 16, was one of several tradition nights the pledges were required to attend, according to the court documents. These nights included a "Bang Night," where pledges were told to do exercises and answer questions about ZBT and the Greek alphabet; "Fight Night," where they had to fight each other, resulting in several bloody noses; "Milk Night," when they were told to drink excessive amounts of milk, ending with many vomiting; and "Onion Night," where 20 onions had to be consumed between 11 pledges," according to the court documents. Other hazing rituals described were having the pledges run errands, clean houses, sell marijuana brownies and, in one case, eat the insides of a Dutch Masters cigar. 
 
 On the night of Duffy's death, student Emily Uezyoga, a friend, attended the party and walked in to find him passed out on the couch, according to the court documents. At that time he appeared to be in "decent shape," and smiled when she shook him and said hello, she said in a statement to police. 
 
 Uezyoga described seeing other pledges with handles of liquor being told to "chug" it. 
 
 After 1 a.m. she found Duffy passed out, sitting on the floor of the shower with Rosengarten standing over him. Uezyoga checked back later to find him in worse condition; the color was completely drained from his face and his lips were bluish purple, she said. His head was slumped down, and drool was dripping out of his nose and mouth. 
 
 Uezyoga ran to get help from friends upstairs, and when she returned she kept yelling for someone to call an ambulance, she said. Her phone's battery was dead. 
 
 Several males ran into the bathroom and were arguing about whether to call the police, and after another partygoer called 911 the males agreed to move Duffy outside so police wouldn't have to come into the residence, Uezyoga said. 
 
 Another statement from student Alyson Alonzo to the university describes a similar scene. Alonzo, a trained lifeguard, said someone pushed Duffy's stomach and he vomited. She tried to perform CPR on him but was dragged outside. 
 
 Four other students were rushed to Albany Med. One of them, a pledge, said he was told his blood tested positive for drugs, including Ketamine, though none of the students seeking admission to the fraternity had knowingly taken drugs, so the pledge concluded that their drinks were spiked, according to the court documents. 
 
 It is unclear whether Duffy ingested drugs or whether they contributed to his death because the autopsy report has not been released. 
 
 Duffy's family field a notice of claim with the state attorney general's office on Dec. 12 saying they intend to sue UAlbany, the State University of New York, its board of trustees and the city of Albany. His family would seek $55 million, citing negligence, loss of services and wrongful death as components of the total damages, according to the notice. 
 
 To combat hazing, the university has a "rigorous" program in place putting out information to students and parents, specifically stressing the importance of students speaking up, said Michael Christakis, interim vice president for Student Success. "The institution cannot be everywhere all the time," he said. "The most powerful deterrent is peer-to-peer." 
 
 kclukey@timesunion.com • 518-454-5467 • @KClukey_TU
– The seven men accused of the 2014 hazing of a SUNY Albany student that caused his death are already in trouble with the school and the police. Now they've got a new problem on their hands: a lawsuit set to be filed by the fraternity whose name they apparently appropriated. Zeta Beta Tau's national office says the "rogue" group of SUNY Albany students charged in the death of 19-year-old Trevor Duffy used the frat's name without authorization and isn't linked to the actual recognized chapter on campus, NBC News reports. "Zeta Beta Tau is retaining counsel for the purposes of filing suit against these individuals who falsely represented themselves, deceiving the public and damaging the otherwise exceptional reputation of our Fraternity," a fraternity statement reads, per News10. Duffy died after allegedly being made to consume nearly half a gallon of vodka in a case that made headlines; his BAC was seven times the legal limit, notes NBC. The national fraternity says its intellectual property—including its name, the ZBT initials, and other materials—are protected under copyright rules, WRGB reports. That means anyone who falsely claims to be affiliated with the frat is fair game for legal action, a move the attorney for one of the accused says he's baffled by. "It's certainly novel, and I'm not sure why they'd take that step," the lawyer for Joseph Angilletta, one of two men arrested just last week in the case, tells the station. "Clearly one aspect here is they seem to want to distance themselves from this tragic event." (Five Baruch College frat members may face up to 20 years behind bars for allegedly taking part in the "glass ceiling.")