Pennsylvania
Penn State frat pledges were made to cut and bag cocaine for college drug ring, authorities say
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.
A message seeking comment was left for Abbatiello’s lawyer.
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.
Paul Robinson, the father of a student who was accused with Abbatiello of being one of the ring’s two main suppliers, is charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension and obstructing the investigation. Authorities say he took steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs and cash.
Court documents did not list a lawyer who could speak on Robinson’s behalf.
Penn State said it placed Delta Upsilon on interim suspension, noting Sigma Chi is not recognized by the university and is not subject to its oversight.
Delta Upsilon Executive Director Justin Kirk said anyone involved in the drug ring who had ties to Delta Upsilon was expelled or suspended from the fraternity if they did not resign.
Sigma Chi’s executive director, Michael Church, said the three Sigma Chi members who were charged have been suspended pending the outcome of the judicial process. He said the fraternity has suspended all operations at its Penn State chapter on an interim basis “while we determine whether these allegations reflect individual conduct or organized chapter activity.”
“This conduct is an egregious violation of our values and has no place in our fraternity, community, or society,” Church said, adding that any members involved “will be held fully accountable to the extent available to our fraternity.”
Washington
Judge blocks Trump administration from moving FBI headquarters to DC office building
A U.S. judge on Monday blocked plans to move the FBI’s headquarters to a federal office building in Washington, finding that President Donald Trump’s administration illegally tossed out a previously approved plan to build a new facility nearby in Maryland.
The ruling is the latest development in a yearslong battle over where to house the main office for the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. A site in Greenbelt, Maryland, was picked during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but Trump appointees sought to reverse that decision last year in favor of repurposing the Ronald Reagan Building, a federal office complex a few blocks from the FBI’s existing headquarters.
U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled that the move was “ not in accordance with law,” and blocked the Trump administration from moving the FBI to the Reagan building, renovating it for the FBI or repurposing funds.
“This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers,” the FBI said in a statement. “The court has chosen to impermissibly intervene for political reasons. This FBI is mission focused and will continue the best course of action to meet the needs of law enforcement.”
The suit was brought by the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County.
“Maryland and Prince George’s County committed more than a decade of work to earn the FBI headquarters and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. “By blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to move the FBI to the Reagan Building and divert the funds Congress set aside for this project, the Court has cleared the path back to Greenbelt.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, also a Democrat, said, “Now it is time to stop the games and get to work building the world-class FBI headquarters that our public servants deserve, where it belongs: in Prince George’s County, Maryland.”
The FBI’s current Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, was dedicated in 1975. Proponents of moving the headquarters have said the brutalist-style building, where nets surround the facility to protect pedestrians from falling debris, has fallen into disrepair.
The Maryland location was selected over nearby Virginia following an intense competition between the two states.
Penn State frat pledges were made to cut and bag cocaine for college drug ring, authorities say
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.
A message seeking comment was left for Abbatiello’s lawyer.
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.
Paul Robinson, the father of a student who was accused with Abbatiello of being one of the ring’s two main suppliers, is charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension and obstructing the investigation. Authorities say he took steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs and cash.
Court documents did not list a lawyer who could speak on Robinson’s behalf.
Penn State said it placed Delta Upsilon on interim suspension, noting Sigma Chi is not recognized by the university and is not subject to its oversight.
Delta Upsilon Executive Director Justin Kirk said anyone involved in the drug ring who had ties to Delta Upsilon was expelled or suspended from the fraternity if they did not resign.
Sigma Chi’s executive director, Michael Church, said the three Sigma Chi members who were charged have been suspended pending the outcome of the judicial process. He said the fraternity has suspended all operations at its Penn State chapter on an interim basis “while we determine whether these allegations reflect individual conduct or organized chapter activity.”
“This conduct is an egregious violation of our values and has no place in our fraternity, community, or society,” Church said, adding that any members involved “will be held fully accountable to the extent available to our fraternity.”
Washington
Judge blocks Trump administration from moving FBI headquarters to DC office building
A U.S. judge on Monday blocked plans to move the FBI’s headquarters to a federal office building in Washington, finding that President Donald Trump’s administration illegally tossed out a previously approved plan to build a new facility nearby in Maryland.
The ruling is the latest development in a yearslong battle over where to house the main office for the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. A site in Greenbelt, Maryland, was picked during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but Trump appointees sought to reverse that decision last year in favor of repurposing the Ronald Reagan Building, a federal office complex a few blocks from the FBI’s existing headquarters.
U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, an appointee of President Barack Obama, ruled that the move was “ not in accordance with law,” and blocked the Trump administration from moving the FBI to the Reagan building, renovating it for the FBI or repurposing funds.
“This is not the first time courts have tried to undermine the administration in its goal to make government more cost-effective for American taxpayers,” the FBI said in a statement. “The court has chosen to impermissibly intervene for political reasons. This FBI is mission focused and will continue the best course of action to meet the needs of law enforcement.”
The suit was brought by the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County.
“Maryland and Prince George’s County committed more than a decade of work to earn the FBI headquarters and pledged hundreds of millions of dollars,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. “By blocking the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempt to move the FBI to the Reagan Building and divert the funds Congress set aside for this project, the Court has cleared the path back to Greenbelt.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, also a Democrat, said, “Now it is time to stop the games and get to work building the world-class FBI headquarters that our public servants deserve, where it belongs: in Prince George’s County, Maryland.”
The FBI’s current Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, was dedicated in 1975. Proponents of moving the headquarters have said the brutalist-style building, where nets surround the facility to protect pedestrians from falling debris, has fallen into disrepair.
The Maryland location was selected over nearby Virginia following an intense competition between the two states.
