It has been more than a year since the hit-and-run occurred that cost Kelly Jean Laughery her life and Shanda Rae Munn her freedom.

On Friday, four former ISU students were arrested on warrants and charged with providing alcohol to a minor resulting in a death.

This is the most consequential charge to be pursued by the Story County attorney for the offense.

Jody Robert George, 25; Nicholas Anthony Tonelli, 24; Anthony Louis Galante, 28; and Kelly Ann Campbell, 24, were arrested in relation to the party held at 4912 Mortensen Road apt. # 513, on Dec. 3, 2005, where a beer keg fueled underage drinkers, including Munn, who was 20 at the time.

The ramifications of a conviction include up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

George Belitsos, director of Youth and Shelter Services of Story County, urged students to practice safer drinking rituals.

“I think this is a very tragic example of the consequences of when adults provide alcohol to minors, but it is a good example of why we need beer keg registration,” Belitsos said.

The keg ordinance, which went into effect on April 1, 2006, provides that anyone who purchases a keg of beer in Story County must register that keg to their name and, as though it were a bar, take responsibility for whom they are serving.

“Cheap alcohol in large quantities promotes students to drink more than they usually would – they drink until the keg is empty,” Belitsos said.

Story County prompted its push for keg ordinances after the accident, and now 23 of the 99 Iowa counties have followed in the movement for safer alcohol consumption.

Proposals to decrease the risk of injury and death from underage intoxication include increasing the penalty for adults providing alcohol to minors, legislation making keg registration mandatory statewide, ending alcohol bootlegging – charging five dollars to drink all night – and eliminating “penny-pitcher” deals in bars, Belitsos said.

“I want to underscore that we have a problem with underage drinking,” Belitsos said. “We are asking every adult to think twice before tapping a keg and to serve only adults. We do not want anyone else to get hurt.”

The equation of this travesty sums up the epidemic of alcohol abuse.

One ISU student is dead, one imprisoned and four more facing fines and incarceration – totaling up to 30 years of jail time for one night of drinking.

Belitsos said authorities have a significant amount of evidence against the four individuals and state suits are only the beginning of the former students’ legal troubles.

Laughery’s family is pursuing civil suits against those involved in the death of their daughter.

An official at the Story County Jail confirmed that the four individuals are no longer being held at the jail.