Neighborhood Association Wants Forum With Penn State, Local Officials After Cocaine Ring Bust at Fraternity Houses

Updated 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, with comment from a Penn State spokesperson.

The president of a State College neighborhood association this week called for Penn State and borough officials to address questions and concerns from residents about an alleged cocaine trafficking ring that operated out of two off-campus fraternity houses.

Mark Huncik, president of the Highlands Civic Association, said during Monday’s borough’s council meeting that he was requesting a public forum, and that he also would like State College police and representatives of the Penn State fraternity system to participate.

“We really need to understand the significant breadth of this security issue on the safety of our neighborhood,” Huncik said. “This was significant and happened right in the heart of the Highlands… We don’t know if others were involved, but we know that there were multiple people involved or maybe even knew about this activity.”

Investigators on Monday filed charges against 14 people — including 13 current or former Penn State students — accused of involvement in what Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said was a coordinated operation trafficking large amounts of cocaine brought from Philadelphia and New York to Delta Upsilon, 229 Locust Lane, and Sigma Chi, 400 E. Prospect Ave.

Both houses, like many Penn State fraternities, are located in the Highlands neighborhood.

“Both of those are in the heart of the Highlands neighborhood … They are also within probably feet, if not yards and blocks, of families, retirees, children, other students and other residents of the borough,” Huncik said.

Six of the defendants are facing felony charges, including corrupt organizations counts against alleged ringleader Agostino S. Abbatiello, 24, of New York, who was denied bail after surrendering on Tuesday, and Thomas M. Robinson, 23, of Pittsburgh, who Sunday described as the No. 2 man in the operation. Mohammed S. Huraibi, 22, and Lars R. Zeepvat, 24, both of New Jersey, were also identified as primary dealers facing similar charges, and Robert A. Zanolla, 24, of New York, is charged with felony counts of conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility.

The investigation began in the fall of 2024 when Robinson sold cocaine to confidential informants in five controlled purchases at the Delta Upsilon house, according to police. When he was taken into custody at the house in December 2024, police said they had to use a Taser on Robinson after he resisted being handcuffed and repeatedly said “I’m gonna f— you up,” according to the affidavit filed at the time. As he was being taken into custody, he told police he thought they were fraternity brothers playing a prank on him.

According to a grand jury presentment, Robinson told police after his arrest that Abbatiello was his source for cocaine, and investigators went on to learn of a coordinated operation that at times used pledges to cut and package cocaine as part of their initiation. Zeepvat, described as a close friend of Abbatiello and his original source for cocaine in Philadelphia, told investigators that Abbatiello lent him $1,500 for a spring break trip and made him sell the drugs to pay it back.

Robinson’s father, 59-year-old Pittsburgh attorney Paul R. Robinson, is the sixth person facing felony charges in the case. He is accused of concealing evidence, including a safe with drugs and cash. His attorney told the New York Post that the safe was among items picked up from the house when his son had to move out following the 2024 arrest and he did not know what was inside of it.

The case has drawn significant national attention, providing seemingly endless fodder for outlets like the Post, garnering coverage on every broadcast and cable news channel, drawing the interest of documentarians and generating memes like the widely popular and not-particularly-clever “Pablo Pledgescobar” nickname for Abbatiello.

For those living close by, it hasn’t been as entertaining.

Huncik said neighborhood residents first began asking for information around the time of Thomas Robinson’s initial arrest, but received little because it was an ongoing investigation.

Now, though, he wants to see a proactive approach.

“We request some type of public forum, so that there’s a sharing of information as far as what the borough understands is going on, what Penn State understands is going on, and what will happen as we move towards hopefully a much safer and much more respectful future within the activities that are associated with our fraternity system within our neighborhood,” he said.

“As we know, they’ve had difficulties in the past. And this is just another instance of that. So we really would like to request some type of acknowledgement of the situation and its impact.”

Borough Council member Susan Venegoni similarly called for a Penn State representative to appear at a council meeting to “give us a presentation on what their obligation is to this community with those fraternities.”

“Off campus is not off the radar,” Venegoni said. “It’s in our community. It’s in the Highlands neighborhood, and I want someone to come and explain to us what we’re doing with the fraternities in this neighborhood, in this community.”

A Penn State spokesperson said the university will continue its practice of engaging with borough leaders and residents on issues of concern.

“Penn State Student Affairs has a longstanding relationship and history of working collaboratively with borough officials and community organizations on topics of mutual interest and concern, and we remain committed to that partnership,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “We are cooperating with law enforcement and taking the appropriate actions within the University’s authority.

“We recognize the broader concerns being raised, and we remain willing to engage directly with borough representatives and community members on broader matters affecting the community and our ongoing efforts to address them.”

The university said on Monday that it had placed Delta Upsilon on interim suspension while Penn State’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response investigates.

Sigma Chi was suspended by Penn State in 2021 and operates without university recognition as a founding member of the independent State College Interfraternity Council.

The six defendants currently enrolled at the university will face potential discipline through Penn State’s student conduct process.

Andrea Dowhower, vice president for Student Affairs, said in a new statement on Friday, that university administrators remain “horrified by the allegations” and are continuing to work with law enforcement.

“Our mission is to create a community in which our students can flourish,” Dowhower said. “That only occurs when we stand up to this type of behavior, which is why we continue our important work — in partnership with our fraternity and sorority community — to educate students about hazing, alcohol and other drug prevention and the important obligations of being a recognized student organization. These enhanced efforts, which will be shared in the next several weeks, include a parent education video, a hazing prevention education campaign, our annual messaging to student leaders and outreach efforts for harm reduction related to drug use.

“As the new semester begins, focusing on our mission couldn’t be more important.”