Jon Hamm Was Arrested On Hazing Charges While In College

Jon Hamm was arrested in college as part of a hazing incident at the University of Texas at Austin Sigma Nu fraternity. Mark Allen Sanders claims the Mad Men start was the ringleader of the Sigma Nu fraternity brothers group who beat him with a battle, dragged him by his genitals, and set his pants on fire.

Mark Allen Sanders said that he was beaten so severely that he nearly lost a kidney and suffered a fractured spine. The Sigma Nu hazing allegedly occurred at the University of Texas in 1990 during the group’s annual initiation week. Sanders also stated that he and other Sigma Nu pledges were targets of “repeated confinements” in the Texas frat house basement. The compartments were carved into the basement floor, according to the now 45-year-old man.

Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm was listed a one of the primary tormentor of Mark Allen Sanders hazing complaint. Sanders is now both a doctor and a lawyer specializing in personal injury and malpractice cases. After the University of Texas hazing incident Sanders reportedly withdrew from the college and entered counseling to cope with the emotional and mental turmoil he felt after pledging Sigma Nu.

Jon Hamm was arrested on hazing related charges in the early ’90s after a police investigation was launched after Sanders told his mother about the hazing and entered counseling. The law enforcement inquiry resulted in the closure of the Sigma Nu chapter at the University of Texas. An assault charge filed against the Mad Men actor was ultimately dismissed and he was reportedly given probation instead of a conviction on the hazing charges.

Mark Sanders then enrolled in Texas Christian University and went on to complete advanced degrees in both medicine and the law. Sanders and his wife, Anada, 41, and their two children reportedly reside in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Daily Mail obtained a 1991 law enforcement interview transcript where Mark Sanders details the Sigma Nu and Jon Hamm hazing incident for Travis County Prosecuting Attorney investigators. The court documents reportedly state that Sanders was the victim of “repeated beatings and assaults” by University of Texas at Austin Sigma Nu “actives” or current members. He went to to claim that both he and other fraternity pledged suffered “repeated confinements” in “the pit,” “the hole,” and “the grave,” – small compartments carved into the foundation of the Texas fraternity house basement.

Mark Sanders also reportedly told the police investigators that the worst of the Sigma Nu hazing occurred in the early morning hours of November 10, 1990. He said that Jon Hamm “summoned” him to the Texas fraternity house and warned him that it was “going to be a long night.” Sanders said that once inside, he was the victim of physical attacks.

The future Mad Men star then allegedly ordered Sanders to “recite a six-page list of phrases” that pledges were told to memorize, the documents was allegedly called the “bulls*** list.” Mark Sanders reportedly told the Texas investigators that when he forgot “the last” of Jon Hamm’s nicknames, which included MC Hammer and Young Bobby, the future television star became “mad, I mean really mad,” the then-pledge maintained.

Jon Hamm and his Sigma Nu frat brothers allegedly spanked Sanders with a paddle repeatedly. “I’m hurting bad, I mean being hit right where the kidney is, it’s killing me,” Mark Allen Sanders reportedly stated during the Texas hazing investigation. Hamm and another fraternity brother then allegedly lifted Sanders up by his underwear, and pulled the clothing it back and forth in a sawing motion. “I don’t know how far underwear stretches, I don’t know how far I was off the ground,” Sanders said.

“I was hurting really bad and I remember I was looking up at the ceiling and I was gritting my teeth and squinting my eyes, it was sawing and it was hurting,” the now doctor and lawyer reportedly said during the hazing inquiry.

The Mad Men star then allegedly set fire to Sanders’ pants and would not let Sanders pat the flames down but only allowed him to try to blow them out, according to the former University of Texas Sigma Nu pledge. Mark Sanders also claimed that Jon Hamm hooked the claw of a hammer under his testicles and “pulled him around the room for at least a minute.”

Sanders said when he was released from the Sigma Nu frat house hazing incident, he fan to a friend’s room and exposed his bruises. The Sigma Nu pledge later said that he suffered nerve damage to his ribs, kidney spasms and a lineal spinal fracture. Margaret Sanders, the then college student’s mother, reported the hazing incident to the local police.

A lawsuit initiated by Mark Allen Sanders against Sigma Nu was ultimately dismissed by the agreement of both parties involved, which might indicate that an out-of-court settlement was reached. The lawsuit sought “unspecified actual and exemplary damages for willful and wanton misconduct.”

Three University of Texas Sigma Nu members reportedly pleaded no contest to charges of hazing and were ordered to serve 15-to-30 days in jail. The young men were reportedly allowed to complete a community service or work-release program instead of jail time. Another Texas frat member was convicted on lesser hazing charges and fined $500.

The Mad Men star has not yet commented publicly about the Sigma Nu Mark Allen Sanders hazing claims.

[Image via: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]