Penn State fraternity cocaine trafficking suspects waive arraignment hearings

Five of the suspects charged in the ongoing Penn State fraternity cocaine trafficking case waived their scheduled court appearances in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and intend to plead not guilty.

New court filings from Centre County released Tuesday show that Agostino Abbatiello, Thomas Robinson, Paul Robinson, Mohammed Huraibi and Robert Zanolla waived their formal arraignments.

With arraignments waived, filings show that all five individuals are now due back in court in mid-November for pretrial conference proceedings. Lars Zeepvat, another defendant in the case, previously waived his arraignment and is also scheduled for a November pretrial conference. 

Fourteen individuals in total, nearly all former or current Penn State students, have been indicted in the case where prosecutors allege a massive drug operation was running out of the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternity houses.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said that Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson made regular trips to Philadelphia and New York for "large quantities" of cocaine, which he said was cut and packaged at the fraternity houses before it was distributed, mostly to other Penn State students. 

Abbatiello, the alleged ringleader of the operation, was in court in early September for preliminary proceedings and previously filed a motion with the courts to request a "speedy" trial. Witness testimony in court detailed how Abbatiello was known to refer to himself as the "Godfather" and was known for flaunting his money. 

Thomas Robinson, the alleged co-ringleader, is accused of using his status within the Delta Upsilon fraternity to recruit pledges to help with drug trafficking. His father Paul Robinson, a prominent Pittsburgh attorney, has been charged in the case and is accused of hiding a safe containing drugs and cash for his son. 

The elder Robinson recently broke his silence, issuing a statement for the first time since he was indicted, saying his son has spent the past two years "digging out of the hole he put himself in" and that he looks forward to "telling what actually happened" when he has the opportunity to do so. 

The next scheduled court proceedings are expected to take place on Nov. 16.