Alleged Penn State Frat Drug Ring Leader’s Brother Charged After Being Found With Cocaine on Boat in Centre County, Authorities Say

The brother of the alleged leader of a cocaine trafficking ring operating out of two Penn State fraternities is facing misdemeanor drug charges of his own after an incident at Bald Eagle State Park.

Sebastiano M. Abbatiello, 20, of New York, was found in possession of 2 grams of cocaine on July 10 when the pontoon he was operating was stopped by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission waterways conservation offers at Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed on Thursday.

An officer wrote that Abbatiello was operating the pontoon but others assisted him to the seating area after making impact with the other vessel. When the officers approached the 12-person boat, it was overloaded with 14 people and smelled of alcohol, according to the affiidavit.

Abbatiello allegedly struggled to follow instructions during a safety inspection. He told the officers that he had two or three alcoholic beverages, then showed multiple signs of intoxication during field sobriety tests and would not consent to a preliminary breath test, according to the affidavit.

After he was placed under arrest for boating under the influence, he was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for chemical testing, which he refused. En route to the hospital, an officer asked Abbatiello for his driver’s license, which he said was in his wallet. The officer opened the wallet and found a plastic bag containing what was later determined by testing to be 2 grams of cocaine, according to the affidavit.

When asked what was in the bag, Abbatiello allegedly responded “cocaine.” Officers said they also found another plastic bag labeled “stay high” with a white powder residue and rolled up dollar bill inside.

He is charged with misdemeanor counts of operating a boat under the influence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, as well as nine summary boating offenses and consumption of alcohol by a minor.

Abbatiello, who is listed as an undergraduate student in the Penn State directory, was charged via summons. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 14.

His older brother, Agostino S. Abbatiello, 24, was one of 14 people charged on Aug. 17 in connection with what Attorney General Dave Sunday called a “coordinated and highly-profitable drug-trafficking crew” operating out of the off-campus Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternity houses from 2023 to 2024.

Investigators say the older Abbatiello was the ringleader of the operation, regularly bringing in large amounts of cocaine from New York and becoming the largest dealer of the drug to Penn State students.

Even after the December 2024 arrest of Thomas Robinson, the operation’s alleged No. 2 man, Abbatiello continued distributing to friends as recently as February, and when he learned individuals were “being interviewed by law enforcement about drug dealing at Penn State, he begged them not to talk about his involvement,” according to a grand jury presentment.

Agostino Abbatiello’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.