SCHENECTADY — A dozen members of a Virginia fraternity were released this afternoon after being charged earlier in the day with breaking into a Union College fraternity house.

The members were accused of breaking into the house on Lenox Road through a second-floor window and then having a party, officials said. Each faced one count of third-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, but the charges were adjourned in contemplation of dismissal this afternoon in City Court on the recommendation of Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney.

In return, the students paid $1,950 - or $150 per person - to cover the cost of cleaning the house. The students were to be escorted back to the frat house to gather their personal belongings.

The students, many from Charlottesville, Va., said they were there with permission of the local members of theTheta Delta Chi fraternity and that they were on a road trip from the University of Virginia, staying there for the night. However, no local members were at the house when they were discovered by Union College security just after 3 a.m., college spokesman Phil Wajda said.

“They were having a party,” Wajda said.