Penn State frat brother charged for running cocaine ring thought his arrest was a prank, documents reveal
Court documents from 2024 reveal more about what led to the arrest of one of the two leaders of a suspected cocaine trafficking ring at Penn State University, which led to charges for 13 other people.
Thomas Robinson, a leading member of the alleged trafficking scheme primarily out of the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternity houses, was arrested in December 2024 after selling cocaine to confidential informants six times between September 2024 and December 2024, according to the grand jury report released by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General on Monday.
According to a criminal complaint, when Robinson was arrested in his room at the Delta Upsilon fraternity, he thought his fraternity brothers were playing a prank on him. The detectives said Robinson repeatedly told officers, "I'm gonna f*** you up" before he was then Tasered and placed in handcuffs. He was then escorted out of the home, at which point he told officers he thought it was a prank, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators found a 220-gram bag of marijuana, pill bottles, drug paraphernalia, a Kimber .45 handgun inside a safe and a magazine that contained seven rounds of ammunition, among other things.
Frat brother accepted money on Venmo
The criminal complaint states that a confidential informant told police that a male, using the nickname "T-Rob," was selling large amounts of cocaine from the Delta Upsilon house and was accepting payment from a Venmo account "Tom-robinson-53."
A database search for "Tom Robinson" identified Robinson and a home address in Churchill, a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and the Delta Upsilon frat house in State College, according to the criminal complaint.
Robinson's father, Paul Robinson, is accused of hiding a safe containing drugs and cash. He's the only nonstudent charged in the ring. He is an attorney at Meyer, Darragh, Buckler, Bebenek, and Eck, P.L.L.C, a law firm with an office in Pittsburgh.
Arrest helps bring down alleged ringleader
According to the grand jury report, after Thomas Robinson was arrested, he told law enforcement that Agostino Abbatiello was his source for the cocaine.
The state attorney general's office has described the two as the main suppliers. The two former students allegedly made regular trips from Philadelphia and New York for "large quantities" of cocaine to run the trafficking ring.
"Multiple witnesses who testified in front of the grand jury referred to Abbatiello as the largest dealer of cocaine for Penn State University students," Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said during a press conference on Monday.
The grand jury report details numerous buys, including one where Thomas Robinson purchased 500 grams of cocaine from Abbatiello, who was a member of Sigma Chi, for $18,000 and 1,000 grams of cocaine for $22,000.
Abbatiello surrendered to authorities on Tuesday and was arraigned on several felonies, including multiple counts of possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy.
The 2024 criminal complaint shows Thomas Robinson was charged with more than 10 felonies, among other charges. A spokesperson for Penn State said Thomas Robinson was last enrolled at Penn State in spring of 2025.
