Poonster Receives Probation

In a hearing yesterday, Vali D. Chandrasekaran '03 was put on six months of pre-trial probation, ending the legal wrangling surrounding his Jan. 2 alleged break-in to the English Language Center (ELC).

Chandrasekaran's probation will end on Aug. 13, after which, provided he has broken no more laws, his case will be dismissed.

By putting Chandrasekaran on probation, the judge halted the legal process before a verdict could be entered.

This result was not what the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office wanted, according to Ben Fitzgerald, spokesperson for the District Attorney's Office.

Fitzgerald said prosecutors, led by Brendan J. Frigault, had wanted a finding of "guilty" plus nine months of probation. The judge, however, disagreed and instead ordered pre-trial probation without supervision.

Chandrasekaran appeared in court yesterday with his lawyer, Jeffrey C. Page, Cabot House Senior Tutor Robert H. Neugeboren '83, and Tyler E. Chapman '90, a lawyer for the Harvard Lampoon.

Chandrasekaran was arrested around 3 a.m. on Jan. 2. While trying to break into The Harvard Crimson's offices, he accidentally broke into the ELC, whose offices are next door.

The ELC is a privately owned company that leases space from The Crimson.

Chandrasekaran, a Lampoon editor, put the break-in in the context of the Lampoon-Crimson rivalry, which dates back to the era of Crimson President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Class of 1904.

He had been charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Chandrasekaran was also the subject of an Administrative Board hearing, though those results are confidential.

Chandrasekaran expressed relief that the proceedings were over.

"I can go about my life as normal," he said.