The State College gas station that closed after its owner, Greg Palazzari, pleaded guilty to selling cocaine was auctioned off on Thursday night.
Located at 605 University Drive, and known as Greg’s Sunoco, the station’s future is unclear after the property’s sale, which topped out at an even $1 million.
Ron Gilligan Auctioneering conducted the sale, and though Gilligan couldn’t provide the name of the purchaser, he says it’s a couple from Mountoursville, Pa. Gilligan says he doesn’t know what the new property owners plan to do with the gas station.
The attorney general’s office seized the property in 2011 because the location was used to store, sell, and buy cocaine. A spokesperson says the money will be split between the attorney general’s office and the district attorney’s office. It will be added to drug forfeiture funds that pay for drug enforcement programs.
Palazzari was arrested in August 2009 after an investigation by the attorney general and Centre County Drug Task Force revealed that he was trafficking cocaine out of the gas station. He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possession and selling cocaine in September 2012, and was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in state prison.
When the attorney general’s office petitioned the court to force him to forfeit the gas station, Palazzari alleged that he was only the owner on paper, but his mother was the one who actually ran the business, according to court documents.
The county court approved the request, and after a number of appeals, the gas station was finally turned over to the state in November 2014 after a state supreme court ruling. That court decision was officially filed on December 11, 2014. The property was closed and the Sunoco sign was removed just days later.
The settlement of the real estate sale will take place in 45 days, when the purchaser will be required to pay the remaining portion that follows a 10 percent down payment.
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