A fraternity brother charged for his involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring was allegedly accepting payments for the drugs under his own name. Court documents showed that a man using the name ‘T-Rob’ was selling cocaine from Penn State’s Delta Upsilon house on Venmo.
Thomas Robinson, 23, thought the officers were playing a prank on him when they raided the fraternity house in December 2024. The ‘prank’ soon became reality when he was tased and arrested. After a search, officers found eight grams of cocaine, eight ounces of weed and hundreds of amphetamine pills.
Drug Ring and Supplier Details
Robinson told officers that his supplier was another fraternity member, Agostino Abbatiello, who was a member of Sigma Chi. Abbatiello and Robinson became partners in crime in mid-2023, court filings showed. At one point, Robinson is alleged to have purchased between $18,000 and $22,000 worth of cocaine from Abbatiello.
Robinson is set to appear in court next month for a pretrial hearing, but both fraternities involved have been suspended. Thirteen others have been charged in connection with the massive drug operation.
Father Also Charged
Also charged is Robinson’s father, Paul, who is accused of trying to conceal evidence and interfere with the investigation. He’s been charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension and allegedly concealing evidence, according to KRCG.
University Response
In a statement, Penn State’s vice president of Student Affairs, Andrea Dowhower, said: ‘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 organisations.’
