A Florida judge last week sentenced a former Florida college student to 30 days in prison and a year of probation after he punched his peer during a fraternity hazing incident in 2018.

Oliver Walker, 26, was charged with culpable negligence inflicting harm after he sucker punched fraternity pledge Nicholas Mauricio during a tradition called “Scumbag of the Week” organized by members of FSU’s since-dissolved Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter, according to a lawsuit previously filed against the fraternity.

“Not only am I lucky to be alive, but I’m lucky to … be in a good condition upstairs,” Mauricio told Fox News Digital. “It’s taken a lot of hard work and a lot of struggling and a lot of low points.”

He said the “hardest part about” his brain injury “is that it’s not a visible injury like a broken arm or a torn ACL that takes physical rehab.” It can be difficult for his friends and family to understand that he was severely injured and has been fighting every day since the “Scumbag of the Week” incident.

OLE MISS FRATERNITY SUSPENDED OVER HAZING ALLEGATIONS AFTER VIDEO SURFACES

Mauricio, who was 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds at the time of the punch, fell and hit his head after Walker’s punch and has spent the last six years recovering from a debilitating brain injury that included two different hematomas and frontal lobe damage.

The incident came just months after FSU student Andrew Coffey died of alcohol poisoning after his fraternity brothers did not immediately call for help.

The longstanding “Scumbag of the Week” tradition required members to select a pledge to be punched in the face in front of the entire fraternity, according to the lawsuit.

MISSOURI STUDENT, VICTIM OF ‘THE WORST FRATERNITY HAZING INJURY EVER’ IS ‘ALIVE FOR A REASON’: PARENTS

Nicholas Mauricio poses with his fraternity “big brother” and “grand big brother” during a pledge night in 2018. (Nicholas Mauricio)

“It’s affecting my whole family,” Mauricio said, adding that they “like the word survivor because it’s an extension of being a victim, but you were able to persevere.”

His mother, Michelle Mauricio, told Fox News Digital waiting six years to get justice has been “atrocious.”

“I’m still so emotionally exhausted. … I’m just tired of fighting a battle we’re never going to win.”

— Michelle Mauricio, Nicholas’ mother

“The stories keep going out, and every year another student is injured or dies,” Michelle said. “This is friends hurting friends.”

Nicholas Mauricio (center) poses with his two fraternity pledge brothers in 2018. (Nicholas Mauricio )

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David Bianchi, a renowned hazing attorney who represented Mauricio in both cases, told Fox News Digital he is glad the Mauricio family is finally seeing a resolution to the criminal case.

“Most people would be amazed at the number of fraternity hazing incidents that happen every year in the United States, and that’s despite the fact that almost every state has an anti-hazing law, every major university has an anti-hazing policy and every major fraternity and sorority has an anti-hazing policy,” Bianchi said. 

“These incidents are happening all the time throughout the United States, and the message isn’t getting through to the guys that do these things.”

Nicholas Mauricio’s mother told Fox News Digital waiting six years to get justice has been “atrocious.” (Nicholas Mauricio)

Bianchi added that “perhaps jail time” will show fraternity members that if they put pledges or existing members into situations where they can be seriously injured or die, suspension, expulsion and even jail time are plausible consequences. 

EX-MIZZOU FRAT MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY IN HAZING CASE THAT LEFT PLEDGE BLIND, PARALYZED

Mauricio wants other college-aged men who are considering joining a fraternity to speak up if they are exposed to any kind of physical harm or alcohol if they are underage.

“You can tell them no, and you should tell them no.”

— Nicholas Mauricio

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“At the end of the day, even though it may seem like they have all the power, you have more power than them. You can tell them no, and you should tell them no,” Mauricio said. “We should all be leaders more than we should be followers. You’ll be able to prevent something bad from happening to you and keep your dignity intact.”

Nicholas Mauricio received a football scholarship in high school. (Nicholas Mauricio)

Mauricio added that universities also have “a lot of skin in this game,” rather than just Greek organizations and their members. He and his mother are hoping their story educates other college students and fraternity members about the potential dangers of hazing.

Mauricio hopes to be an advocate for college hazing and others who suffer from brain damage.

Attorney Gannon Coens of Bodiford Law, which represented Walker, declined to comment at the time of publication.

A Virginia congressional candidate whose brother was a star witness in the first then-President Donald Trump impeachment is facing allegations of campaign finance violations and misrepresenting his military record.

The campaign staff of Eugene Vindman, a Democratic candidate in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, referred press inquiries about the candidate’s military record to VoteVets, a political action committee (PAC) that supports progressive military veterans running for office. VoteVets has endorsed Vindman, a former Army infantry officer and Army lawyer.

Two watchdog groups – the Functional Government Initiative and the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust – allege in separate complaints to the Federal Election Commission that this is illegal coordination between the campaign and the super PAC. The FEC complaints allege VoteVets PAC provided a service to the Vindman campaign by managing its press inquiries.

VINDMAN WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR VIRGINIA’S 7TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

“The law is quite clear that providing a service to a campaign is an in-kind contribution. Communication is something a campaign usually pays for, not having a super PAC make statements,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), told Fox News Digital.

Eugene Vindman is the brother of retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a former National Security Council member who testified in the 2019 House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This led to Trump’s first House Democrat-led impeachment.

Eugene Vindman is running against Republican Derrick Anderson, a former Army Green Beret.

FACT is basing its complaint on a documented email exchange between a Washington Free Beacon reporter, Vindman’s campaign manager and Travis Tazelaar, the political director VoteVets PAC.

“We have seen campaigns push the limits with super PACs, but this is not just pushing the limits. It’s an explicit in-kind contribution,” Arnold said.

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Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, the brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, director of European affairs at the National Security Council, arrives back to the House Intelligence Committee hearing on the impeachment inquiry of President Trump in the Longworth Building on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Last month, Vindman’s campaign manager Jeremy Levinson said in the email to a Washington Free Beacon reporter, “I am looping in VoteVets who is going to be providing comments on our behalf to your initial inquiry.”

The campaign manager added, “All future questions on this matter or any matters can be directed to him.”

To say “or any matters” is problematic, Arnold said.

“The traditional timeline for an FEC investigation is long. We hope they can expedite this case given the circumstances,” Arnold said. “The Vindman campaign referred the press to VoteVets on this and any other issues.”

In this case, Tazelaar responded to the Free Beacon’s media inquiry with a statement on Vindman’s behalf.

A Vindman campaign spokesperson was dismissive of the FEC complaints.

WWII VETERAN RECEIVES STANDING OVATION, ‘USA’ CHANTS AFTER MOVING SPEECH

“The bottom line is that we worked with the coordinated side of the VoteVets organization on the response to the Free Beacon outreach,” a Vindman campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The FEC rules are clear that this interaction does not violate its rules and would not constitute an in-kind contribution.”

Similarly, David Mitrani, the general counsel to VoteVets, said there was no FEC violation.

Eugene Vindman is running as a Democrat to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The claims made in Functional Government Initiative’s complaint is simply false,” Mitrani told Fox News Digital in a statement. “VoteVets’ activities are in full compliance with campaign finance laws.”

The statement only addressed one complaint. In a follow-up email, a VoteVets spokesperson said the statement was intended to address complaints from both the Functional Government Initiative and the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.

The six-member Federal Election Commission is equally made up of Republicans and Democrats and rulings often end in tie votes.

Federal law on coordinated communication, or 11 CFR 109.21(h); 11 C.F.R. 106.1(c)(1), covers when campaign work “is paid for, in whole or in part, by a person other than that candidate, authorized committee, or political party committee.” The law also prohibits an outside “vendor,” within 120 days of the election from developing “media strategy, including the selection or purchasing of advertising slots,” developing “the content of a public communication,” and “producing a public communication.”

The controversy over campaign finance laws stems from the questions over Vindman’s military record.

‘STOLEN VALOR’ LETTER DEALS POLITICAL BLOW TO WALZ AS HE TOUTS MILITARY RECORD AT DNC AND MORE TOP HEADLINES

Whether Virginia Democratic U.S. House nominee Eugene Vindman may have embellished his military resume is coming into question in the heat of his 2024 congressional campaign. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Vindman’s GOP opponent Derrick Anderson said Vindman “should answer all these legitimate questions about inflating his military resume.”

“I respect that he served in the military, but voters deserve answers – not another D.C. politician that hides from them,” Anderson told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Right now, Vindman won’t even debate me on TV because he’s not willing to answer questions about the simple fact that he’s not being straight with voters about his resume.”

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Vindman had previously said he “fought for our nation in combat,” however a 2019 Daily Mail article said Vindman “has not seen combat.” In mid-August, the Washington Free Beacon reported that when it contacted the Vindman campaign, campaign chief Levinson copied VoteVets Tazelaar and referred “all future questions” to the PAC.

In its response to the Beacon, the VoteVets spokesperson reportedly said, “There was no front line in Iraq — and the Vindman family was grateful that Eugene was able to return home unscathed while so many other of our brothers and sisters in arms did not.”

An original printed archetype of the United States Constitution, signed by Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, was found at a North Carolina plantation.

The revolutionary document was discovered in 2022 at Hayes Farm, in Edenton.

It will be auctioned off in Asheville, North Carolina, by Brunk Auctions.

EXPERTS STUNNED AFTER CORPSE OF MEDIEVAL CATHOLIC SAINT IS UNCOVERED, FOUND IN REMARKABLE CONDITION

The rare piece of history was pulled from an old filing cabinet while the house was being prepared for sale in North Carolina to transform the plantation into a public historic site, according to Brunk Auctions’ press release.

The 184-acre plantation property was originally purchased by former North Carolina Governor Samuel Johnston in 1765, according to the release.

The document is one of only eight known surviving signed ratification copies and the only known copy in private hands.

“James Madison wrote that the Constitution was nothing more than a draft of a plan, nothing but a dead letter, until life and validity were breathed into it by the voice of the people, speaking through several State Conventions,” said auctioneer Andrew Brunk in the release.

The rare document was found inside an old filing cabinet at Hayes Farm, in Edenton, North Carolina. (Brunk Auctions)

The bidding will start at $1 million but is expected to sell for much more. 

“This is a unique opportunity to own a cornerstone of our democracy, particularly at this time in our nation’s history. It also reminds us of the crucial role New York played in the founding of America,” Seth Kaller, a historical document expert who is collaborating with Brunk, said.

The last and only other recorded sale of a similar document was in 1891, according to Brunk Auctions.

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The rare document will be sold at Brunk Auctions on Sept. 28 to align with the 237th anniversary of the day Congress passed the ratification resolution.

The rare document will go under the hammer on Sept. 28 in Asheville, North Carolina. (Brunk Auctions)

The public is welcome to view the piece of American History at the location where the Confederation Congress met in 1787 and resolved to send the Constitution to the States for ratification.

It will be on display on Friday, Sept. 13, from 1:00 – 4:30 PM at Federal Hall National Memorial at 26 Wall Street in New York, New York.