Five men accused of being part of a cocaine distribution ring at Penn State have filed court documents indicating they intend to fight the charges against them. Agostino Abbatiello, Mohammed Huraibi, Robert Zanolla, Thomas Robinson, and Paul Robinson have each indicated they intend to plead not guilty as their cases move forward in Centre County court.
Their decision comes despite testimony detailing kilogram-sized deals and a drug-packaging operation inside a fraternity house. One of their attorneys, Korey Leslie, warned that it would be "foolish" to rush to judgment. The five defendants waived their formal arraignments scheduled for Wednesday and will not appear at the Centre County Courthouse. Their next court appearance is scheduled for November 16 for a pretrial conference.
The defendants have requested various trial options, with Abbatiello, Zanolla, and Thomas Robinson requesting jury trials on their waiver forms. Huraibi and Paul Robinson indicated they intend to plead not guilty but did not select either a jury or non-jury trial. The five are among 14 people charged in the alleged operation, which prosecutors say used fraternity connections to move cocaine into State College before it was packaged and sold to Penn State students.
A former Delta Upsilon fraternity member, Thomas Robinson, testified that he and Huraibi began buying cocaine from Abbatiello in 2023. He stated that the cocaine was stored in his fraternity room, where he and Huraibi broke it into half-gram bags and sold them for about $80 each. The quantities later grew to kilogram-sized purchases, according to Robinson's testimony.
The defendants' attorneys have begun reviewing the evidence against them, with Leslie stating that the defense has requested all evidence the Commonwealth intends to use at trial.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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