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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State fraternity pledges were made to cut and package cocaine for a drug ring that was run out of two off-campus frat houses, authorities said.
The illicit initiation was revealed Monday as Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday charged 14 people -- including 13 current or former Penn State students -- in connection with the alleged drug ring.
The man accused of leading the operation, 24-year-old Agostino Abbatiello, surrendered on Tuesday after failing to appear for a scheduled arraignment on Monday on charges including possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy. He was ordered jailed without bail.
According to court documents, the drug ring operated in 2023 and 2024, fueled by bulk quantities of cocaine that two of the charged men obtained from contacts in Philadelphia and New York.
They cut and bagged the drugs mainly at the Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternity houses, using frat brothers and pledges as labor, then distributed it through Penn State students, court documents said.
One of the men said a co-defendant was the "largest distributor of cocaine" at Penn State and would "boast about how much money he was making from selling cocaine." At least four of the defendants are current students, Sunday's office said.
"This is very serious criminal conduct. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct," Sunday said at a news conference on Monday. "This was an upper-level trafficking organization for this region in Pennsylvania."
Four people are charged with conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, felony corrupt organizations and other offenses. Another defendant is charged with felony conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility.
Eight defendants are charged with misdemeanor drug possession.