SALISBURY, Md. - The last of the former Salisbury University students involved in a 2024 off-campus ambush and assault has been sentenced.
According to charging documents WBOC initially acquired, Zachary Leinemann, 19, posed as a 16-year-old on the dating app Grindr to lure an adult victim to an off-campus apartment in October of 2024. The victim then arrived at the apartment “to meet with Leinemann for the purpose of having sexual intercourse,” court documents read.
“It should be noted, Leinemann did represent himself as a 16 year old,” police wrote in their charging documents.
The age of consent in Maryland is 16.
Leinemann then coaxed the victim into the apartment, at which point a group of Salisbury University students, all affiliated with a now-suspended fraternity, ambushed and assaulted the victim, according to court documents. Police say despite multiple attempts to escape, the students would not allow the victim to leave, repeatedly throwing him to the ground.
The victim would later tell police he feared for his life and believed he was targeted for being gay. The attack sparked outrage at Salisbury University, with school officials hosting a community vigil in response.
As of Wednesday, 13 out of the 15 former students involved had been sentenced. Of the 15 implicated in the investigation, only one, Benjamin Brandenburg, was fully acquitted.
On Aug. 14, 2025, Leinemann pleaded guilty days ahead of a scheduled trial to second-degree assault and false imprisonment, according to online court records. A third misdemeanor hate crime charge against him was placed on a stet docket, indefinitely postponing the charge as long as Leinemann adheres to certain conditions without outright dismissing it.
Leinemann was sentenced to 3 years for the assault charge and 3 years for false imprisonment, with all but 18 months total suspended. Following the year-and-a-half active sentence, Leinemann was also ordered to 3 years of probation.
For a full breakdown of each of the former students involved and their charges, you can click here.
