Law&Crime Sidebar - Penn State Frat Bros BUSTED in Cocaine Trafficking Ring: Cops

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

Pennsylvania authorities have charged 14 people in an alleged sprawling cocaine trafficking operation tied to two off-campus Penn State fraternity houses, with prosecutors claiming drugs were cut, packaged and sold through the network allegedly run by the former fraternity brothers, with assistance from pledges. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber walks us through the bombshell allegations, the evidence investigators say they uncovered, and how deep the alleged drug network went.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life, when you head to http://smalls.com/SIDEBARHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson, Heather Berzak & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The evidence showed that cocaine was primarily packaged at the fraternity houses and that packaging was done by fraternity brothers and oftentimes pledges. The Attorney General of Pennsylvania has just announced a bombshell criminal case against 14 people in connection with an alleged sprawling cocaine trafficking operation involving former Penn State University students and fraternities. We have the alleged evidence, the shocking allegations, and more deep. details on how this case unfolded. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, before we jump into this, all you cat owners out there, who does not want their cat to be healthy and happy, right?

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Experts have also been raving about it. Forbes ranked Smalls. best overall cat food, BuzzFeed reviewers reported that their cats went ballistic for this stuff. So your cat's health starts with what they eat. Try smalls, get 60% off your first order plus free shipping and treats for life when you go to smalls.com slash sidebar. Between 2023 and 2024, large amounts of cocaine, kilos were brought from Philadelphia and New York to state college, where they were cut and packaged for sale, primarily. to Penn State students.

The two main dealers, the top of the chain, if you will, were senior members of the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities. That is Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, announcing criminal charges against 13 former Penn State University students and a student's father. So you're talking 14 people in total, all in connection with this alleged cocaine trafficking operation that was occurring through two off-campus fraternity houses. And as laid out at yesterday's press conference and on the AG's website, Agostino Abateielo and Thomas Robinson are accused of being at the top, the big fish, the main suppliers, who would make these trips to Philadelphia

and New York for these large quantities of cocaine. And as we'll get into, it's that alleged travel, that alleged sophistication, that alleged complexity, which adds to the charges. Now, keep all this in mind, okay, because I have a lot more detail from a court filing that I will get into, okay? And as I pled you before, I think one of the most shocking aspects of this case is that pledges, so fraternity pledges, you know, the freshman students or trying to be accepted into a fraternity, that they were allegedly directed to cut and package the cocaine. Now, here's a better sense of the charges as presented to a grand jury. Remember a grand jury?

The standard is really low to get back criminal charges, right? There has to be sufficient probable cause. But I want you to listen to this and listen very carefully to not only the wild allegations in general on the charges, but particularly against the father, who we believe to be Paul Robinson. Agostino Abatello, Thomas Robinson, and two others, Muhammad Harabi and Lars Zipat, are charged. with felony corrupt organizations because this was a coordinated and organized cocaine trafficking operation with regular trips to those source cities and large amounts of cocaine being brought back to these fraternities. They are also charged with conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, and related offenses. A fifth person, Robert Zinola, is charged with felony corrupt,

or I'm sorry, felony conspiracy and criminal use of communication facility and related misdemeanors. These are the five primary dealers. The eight other student age defendants in this case have been charged with misdemeanor counts of drug possession and paraphernalia. The only non-student charge is Thomas Robinson's father, Paul Robinson, who we allege took steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs in cash. and obstruct this investigation. And AG Sunday emphasized at least twice during this press conference that despite the gravity and the seriousness of these charges, and we'll talk about the evidence in a minute, all these players, all these defendants are innocent unless proven guilty.

And I'll get into the alleged evidence in a minute, but my gosh, wow, right? And when I heard, let's say, lower-tiered individuals being charged with misdemeanors, First thing I thought about is, okay, do we have potential cooperating witnesses, lower level offenses, maybe plea deals possible in the works? Can they be that connective tissue? Are they going to testify against the big fish, the organizers, the suppliers? I want you to keep that in mind when we talk about this court filing in a minute, but when you have a complex operation like this, it's about getting the masterminds, right? the ones who organized all this. But just to be clear, those charged are Agostino Abatello, Thomas Robinson, Muhammad Harabi, Lars Zipat, Robert Zanola, Liam Smith, Michael Brogno,

Caden Howe, Connor Hurley, Seth Beardsley, Kyle Ridpath, Daniel Price, Charles Wiseman, and Paul Robinson. But a few more interesting tidbits from this presser. First of all, why are we only seeing charges now? With the charges dating back to 2003 or the investigation, some might ask why weren't these folks arrested earlier if they were doing this amount of drugs? So the incidents occurred during the course of 2023, 2004, and that's when obviously we then were brought in. Investigations of this nature take time. They're very detailed, and what we wanted to do was make sure that we,

took the time to arrest all of these individuals so that we could do our best to root out this criminal organization to stop it from being able to continue to deal cocaine in the future. Oh, and when Sunday was asked about hazing related charges for the pledges, right, allegedly being directed to do all this, he said this is an ongoing investigation, so perhaps keeping the door open for future charges. What about the school's responsibility, the school's knowledge? I know there may be many questions about the university in regards to these students and this conduct. This is very serious criminal conduct. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct. This was an upper-level trafficking organization for this region in Pennsylvania.

In fact, multiple witnesses who testified in front of the grand jury referred to Batiello as the largest dealer of cocaine for Penn State University students. Regarding the university's knowledge or actions in response to this conduct, in consideration of the confidential nature of the grand jury proceedings and ongoing active prosecutions, I can say this. We did not hear of any drug packaging happening on Penn State's campus. Again, the packaging happened at off-campus fraternity houses. And the actual drug dealing was largely from friend to friend, fraternity brother to fraternity brother, acquaintance to acquaintance,

and at fraternity houses and or during parties or social engagements. Seems to me kind of suggesting the university may be separated from all this, but maybe a question that may arise somehow in the form of disciplinary action or maybe even litigation. I mean, the New York Post reports that Penn State has suspended Delta Upsilon while it investigates these allegations. They also announced that Sigma Chi is not recognized by the university. actually operates outside of its supervision. Andrea Dowhauer, Penn State's Vice President for Student Affairs, had the following statement release,

quote, we are horrified by these serious allegations against current and former students, criminal activity, including hazing, such as this has no place at our institution, and we will cooperate with law enforcement in any way we can. We will continue to enhance our efforts around health and safety and hazing educational efforts for all our organizations. Put that to the side.

So accompanying this announcement was the release of an affidavit of probable cause and a statement of findings of fact from the grand jury. I want to read you sections from that because it provides a lot more details about how this whole case unfolded, how people were investigated, the evidence, the potential evidence, and more specifics of this investigation. So it says, quote, the grand jury is investigating a case which began in September 2,000. 24, wherein Detective Donald Paul of the State College Police Department initiated an investigation into a cocaine distribution ring being operated in State College, Pennsylvania. Early in the investigation, Detective Paul was able to develop confidential informant-informance, C-I, that conducted several controlled purchases of cocaine from an individual whose sources was associated with two fraternities at Penn State University, Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi.

Detective Paul told the grand jury that a controlled purchase is a method used to buy illegal drugs using a CI who is under the control of law enforcement. That is exactly what I expected from this case. That's what I expected when I was listening to that press conference from AG Sunday. Using a CI, a confidential informant or informants like this, it is key. It is key to seeing how an alleged operation worked, who is involved, creates that connective link, you're able to get the substances in question, test them, link back to who's purchasing, who's selling, who's supplying. That is a link. That is what you need in a complex organization. The filing continues.

After several control purchases, Detective Paul, along with the State College Police Department, arrested Thomas Robinson, who was, was selling cocaine from the fraternity Delta Upsilon. Robinson was charged with the deliveries to the CI as well as items seized after a search warrant was executed on his room at the fraternity. By the way, a defense attorney will try to, you know, hammer away at the search warrant, hammer away at the CI and also the circumstances surrounding that transaction who initiated what, things like that, just to keep an eye out for. Quote, a total of six controlled purchases were made from Robinson between September 2024 and December 2024.

Frequency matters. The drugs were sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab for testing. This is what I talked about before. The drugs sold by Robinson were confirmed to be cocaine, and the total weight between the controlled purchases and seizure from Robinson's room totaled 73.8 grams of cocaine. After Robinson's arrest, this is key, he cooperated with law enforcement. and gave information about his source of illegal narcotics. Robinson told police that Agostino Abatello, who was a Penn State student and member of the Sigma Kai fraternity, was his source for cocaine. Robinson explained that he obtained cocaine

from Abatello on numerous occasions. So now you have an alleged positive idea of the drugs and reported cooperation from a key figure in this case. Again, I go back to the idea, potential deal for testimony if it's on the table, but you have alleged confessions, statements, and while potentially subject to defense attorneys trying to quash those, keep them out of a trial, it could be said to be potentially damning evidence, right? Particularly if these are recorded interviews with Robinson. But to give you an idea of these alleged purchases, it says,

quote, he detailed six larger transactions that took place between January, 2024 and September 2024. The first two purchases of cocaine from Abatello were for between six and eight ounces on each transaction. The third purchase took place around March 19, 2024, when Robinson purchased 500 grams from Abatello for $18,000. The date was confirmed using a photo on Robinson's phone, we're in several pledges of Delta Upsilon were assisting Robinson in packaging the cocaine into smaller baggies for distribution. We don't know exactly what that photo is, but if it purports to show what they're claiming it shows, you know how that could be important evidence, how that could be compelling evidence, and particularly the metadata, you can determine when that photo was taken.

And in terms of the payment, in terms of the money trail, keep that in mind, too. I'm going to get to that. Quote, Robinson's last drug purchase from Abateello occurred around September. 2024 when he purchased an additional kilogram of cocaine for $22,000. A lot of money here. The date was confirmed because the sale took place on a weekend of a home football game at Penn State University. Now here's the part where the grand jury lists out the alleged connective tissue of the players, the defendants. Quote, Robinson explained that he first met Abatello through Muhammad Harabi. I mentioned before. Harabi was one of Robinson's fraternity brothers at Delta Upsilon.

First introduced Robinson to cocaine at the fraternity house. Around December 2022, Haraabe first started selling cocaine to other brothers within the house after taking over for another fraternity brother. In July 2023, Hrabi approached Robinson and asked him to become business partners in distributing cocaine. When Robinson and Arabi returned to school in the fall of 2023, they started buying drugs together.

Initially, Hrabi acquired drugs from Abateello, and later he introduced Robinson so that he could purchase direct directly from Abatello. Haredi testified before the grand jury that in the fall of 2023, so now you're talking about a cooperating witness. Again, I go back to this idea of plea deals. He set up the first purchase of cocaine from Abateello using Snapchat, a messaging application on his phone.

The agreement was to purchase around 100 grams of cocaine for $4,000. Robinson and Hrabe both contributed cash for the purchase. Snapchat? You're talking about a potential digital. money trail, digital records for the prosecution. Now, the defendants would have to explain the substance of those conversations, the payments, their purposes. That's key evidence.

Quote, Abatello brought the drugs to Delta Upsilon and delivered 100 grams of cocaine to Arabian exchange for cash. Arabi's plan for the cocaine was to repackage it in half gram bags to sell for profit. Robinson and Arabi would both make a commission off the sale of bags of cocaine. Arabian Robinson then sold the individual bags to other fraternity members or friends. Robinson and Arabia would communicate with one another whenever the bags were sold to keep track of their profits. As the drug business grew, Robinson utilized brothers of the fraternity to assist him in his drug operation. In fall of 2024, Connor Hurley and Michael Braggna, brothers at Delta Upsilon assisted Robinson by packaging cocaine and delivering bags of cocaine to individuals for purchase.

Additionally, Ryan Mattson, who was described as Robinson's best friend, was also an integral part of Robinson's drug distribution network. Mattson would assist Robinson in picking up drugs from Abatello and in distributing cocaine. Interestingly, I don't believe I mention Mattson as one of the people who's currently facing criminal charges, right? Lars Zipfat was identified as another business partner of Abateello. Zepfat was a brother at the fraternity Sigma Chi. Zepfat and Abateello were close friends and worked.

closely together in distributing drugs. Zephat explained that he was a cocaine user and when he first came to Penn State, he had a source for cocaine in Philadelphia. He would get cocaine from his source in Philadelphia for himself and some of his fraternity brothers, including Abatello. Initially, Zephat and Batiello were buying between three and a half to seven ounces of cocaine from his Philadelphia source. After a short time, his source would no longer talk to him, so he and Batiello sought out a new source. A Batiello then found a source in his hometown. He had a source. in New York that would supply them with larger amounts of cocaine. ZepVat testified, again, maybe another cooperating witness, that once a source was obtained

in New York around spring 2023, a Batiello made a large purchase for 100 grams of cocaine. Once he made this large purchase, Zepat described a shift in Abatello, and it was clear to him that Batiello was now selling drugs for profit, rather than sourcing it for himself and a few friends. A Batielo branched out from selling cocaine within the fraternity house and extended outside the to other fraternities and students. On another occasion, in spring 2023, Abateello as Ziegfat and Robert Zanola, another Sigma Chi brother,

to make a trip with him to New York to re-up his supply of cocaine. At the time, Zinola was already purchasing cocaine from Abatello. Batiello offered Zinola between $500 to $1,000 to $1,000 to make the trip to get cocaine. ZepFat stated that Batiello paid half-purchase price ahead of the trip,

and Zanola paid for the rest in cash. Zepfat and Zanola took three trips to purchase large quantities of drugs for Batiello. They would drive to location based on an address given to them from a Batiello. A man would deliver a bag with cocaine in it to either Zepfat or Zanola, and they would return with the bag to state college and give it to a Batiello. Zepfat and Zanola received payment for making the trip from a Batiello in either cash or a cheaper price for cocaine. Zepfat explained that after a Batielo would get a large supply of cocaine. He would bring the drugs to Sigma Chi and have other brothers and pledges the system in preparing and packaging the cocaine for resale. When Zipat and Zanola would return

with a supply of cocaine for Batielo, he would utilize fraternity brothers or his roommates when he later moved to an off-campus apartment to assist him in cutting up the cocaine and packaging it in smaller amounts to distribute. So what you're seeing in these allegations is the level of sophistication, pattern, travel, money, payments, organization, which would help support the charges like we mentioned before, felony corrupt organizations, conspiracy, which is essentially a criminal agreement, dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity. Quote ZFAT stated that during 2023 to 24, Apatielo was the largest distributor of cocaine at Penn State University. Wow. He stated that Batiello would boast about how much money he was making from selling cocaine. Who did he allegedly

make these statements to? Could they be witnesses? Zepad explained ifatielo loaned him $1,500 so that he and other fraternity brothers could attend a spring break trip. Zepat stated that a batiello then made him deliver cocaine for him when he couldn't pay back the loan. I also wonder if any of this is documented in text messages. Zeebatt detailed other individuals including Andrew Acker who owed a Batiello thousands of dollars after taking a loan from him. Acker was another individual who was selling cocaine for a Batiello. And I do wonder the more people that are connected, affected, allegedly involved,

they're communing with the Batiello, the more potential witnesses in this case. Quote, Acre began purchasing cocaine from Batiello in late fall, 2023, spring 2024, after becoming a fraternity brother at Sigma Chi. Acker described a Batiello as one of the bigger drug dealers at Penn State. Acker began selling cocaine for a Batiello to make extra cash. Acker explained that he would often use cash app to pay a Batiello for the cocaine that he was distributing, and he believed the amount of those transactions to total around $30,000. In total, though, Acker believes that between cash and digital transactions, he paid Abatello over $50,000 for drugs.

Cash app, digital evidence, digital records. Again, this could be tough for a defense attorney. Innocent and less proven guilty, but just talking about potential evidence here. Now, here's how this filing concludes. Quote, several witnesses testified before the grand jury that they purchased cocaine on numerous occasions from Abateello during the their time at Penn State between January 2023 and August 24. Many of the witnesses also either assisted or observed a Batiello preparing cocaine for sale by cutting it from a larger form to smaller individual bags for distribution.

The consensus among the witnesses, and by the way, we don't know how many testified, but the consensus among the witnesses that testified before the grand jury is that a Batiello was the main dealer of cocaine at Penn State during this time frame, and he was making considerable amounts of money in the business. Batiello has continued to distribute cocaine among his friends as recently as February 2026. Additionally, when he learned that individuals were being interviewed by law enforcement about drug dealing at Penn State, he begged them not to talk about his involvement.

I don't know how they plan to prove that, but if there's some sort of communications or witness testimony, look, that's a deeply, deeply unsettling. of allegations. By the way, I can report right now just came out that according to CBS4 News, investigators say that Mr. Abatielo has turned himself into authorities, that he was arraigned on multiple counts, as we talk, drug possession, conspiracy charges. They also report that according to online court records, Abatello is now being held without bail. I don't see as of this recording a statement from his lawyer or lawyers, but we'll say. I do want to go back, though for a second to AG Sunday from that press conference, where he explained why this is such a

big deal. What to say to parents that are concerned about this? With regard to parents that might be watching this and thinking about what's happening at the school, I just want to say this. There is no city, county, community that exists that doesn't have to deal with issues such as drug use drug dealing, addiction, and things of that nature. This is something that occurs all throughout our country and all throughout the world. And that being said, we take it very, very seriously, which is why we conducted this investigation, which is why we filed the charges we filed. And I will say that not only have we filed these charges, but I promise you that we will be watching.

for students who think about going to college, being away from home for the first time, and having an opportunity to kind of do what they want. They need to understand that there are always going to be ramifications for your actions. And just because you're at college and you're making money and you think that this is something you can get away with, it's not. It's extremely serious. Law enforcement takes it extremely seriously, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals that decide to deal drugs on college campuses.

All right. So what a development had to bring it to you. Big shocking news. Series of allegations. Again, they're all innocent unless proven guilty. But my gosh, a lot to think about. It's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us.

As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can also check us out on NBC's Peacock as well. If you want to follow me, X Instagram, My News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. See you next time, everybody.