By Jacob Halbesma, Local & National News Editor

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced state police have uncovered an organized drug ring within the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternity houses at Pennsylvania State University earlier this month.

According to the grand jury indictment, the operation has been running since January 2023, transporting bulk packages of cocaine to State College, Pennsylvania, where it was cut and packaged for distribution. Packaging was reportedly done by current pledges to the fraternity, an activity that many in the Penn State administration condemn as “hazing” and an initiation ritual for the incoming class.

“I expect stricter rules from the International Chapter, and oversight will be added to pledging, hoping to encourage students to speak up when something isn’t right,” University of Cincinnati sophomore and Sigma Chi brother Ian Flanagan said.

            The group allegedly relied on technology and certain social media apps like Snapchat and Cash App to conduct business. Pledges were told to find potential buys through Snapchat, a popular social media app amongst college-age students and collect the money through digital transaction apps like Cash App or Venmo, processing thousands of dollars.

            After several years of this operation, the network began to collapse as police started to close in. One of the alleged ringleaders, a 22-year-old student and Delta Upsilon brother named Thomas Robinson, had his room raided by police and resisted arrest, believing his fraternity brothers were playing a prank on him.

            Of the 14 people that were charged, 13 were current Penn State students at the time of the investigation. Agostino Abbatiello, 24, was identified by police as the primary suspect at the top of the chain. Known online as “Pablo Pledgescobar”, he eventually surrendered to authorities, where he was arraigned and denied bail.

            Along with Abbatiello and Robinson, prominent Pittsburgh attorney Paul Robinson, Thomas Robinson’s father, was charged in the case. He is the only non-student charged in the case, facing felony charges for allegedly tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension after helping his son conceal a safe filled with drugs and cash.

PSU Vice President of Student Affairs Andrea Dowhower expressed that the university was horrified by these serious allegations and placed Delta Upsilon on an interim suspension. The Sigma Chi chapter was already unaccredited and operated outside of the university’s oversight.

            “What Pennsylvania State University’s Sigma Chi chapter had going on was horrible and had no place on campus,” Flanagan said.

            The university’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response is conducting a parallel investigation, and individuals found responsible could face severe disciplinary actions separate from the legal case.

            This scandal follows recent stories of large state university fraternities being investigated for intense pledge hazing. The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at the University of Iowa was investigated in 2025 for hazing after campus police responded to a fire alarm at the house, finding 56 male pledges crowded in a dark basement, shirtless and blindfolded while covered in ketchup, mustard and alcohol.

Police reported that the investigation will continue as the fraternities’ face suspension and the charged individuals await trial. PSU faculty and administration say they will monitor the situation, attempting to put an end to similar activity on their campus