BELLEFONTE, Pa. â A former fraternity member testified Wednesday that he bought and sold cocaine in quantities that grew from 100 grams to 1-kilogram loads as prosecutors detailed allegations of a drug operation running through fraternities near campus.
The testimony came during preliminary hearings at the Centre County Courthouse in , for Agostino Abbatiello, Mohammed Huraibi, Paul Robinson, Thomas Robinson and Robert Zanolla. The five defendants are among 14 people charged in the alleged Penn State drug operation.
Charging documents filed by the Pennsylvania attorney generals office describe a hierarchy of alleged suppliers, distributors and fraternity members accused of weighing, packaging and delivering cocaine. Prosecutors allege the drugs were brought to State College from Philadelphia, New York and Long Island before being sold to Penn State students.
Thomas Robinson, a former Delta Upsilon fraternity member, testified that he and Huraibi began from Abbatiello in 2023. Robinson said their first purchase involved about 100 grams of cocaine for roughly $4,000.
Robinson testified that he stored the cocaine in his fraternity room, where he and Huraibi broke it down into half-gram bags and sold each one for about $80.
He described additional purchases involving 250 grams, 500 grams and, eventually, about 1 kilogram of cocaine. Robinson testified that he began buying directly from Abbatiello through Snapchat after Huraibi stopped selling.
Robinson said the Snapchat messages disappeared after 24 hours. During one March 2024 transaction, he testified that Abbatiello sold him about 500 grams of cocaine for approximately $22,000.
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Robinson also testified that he purchased about 1 kilogram of cocaine from Abbatiello in July 2024, another kilogram in September and a third kilogram in November. He said he sold the drugs primarily to members of Penn State fraternities.
The complaints portray Abbatiello as a top-level supplier who allegedly used fraternity connections to distribute cocaine on campus. They also accuse him of supplying Robinson and other defendants.
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The defense challenged Robinsons credibility and memory, pointing out that he used cocaine while he was selling it. Robinson acknowledged that his drug use could have affected his recollection. He also testified that he was arrested in D
