Prosecutors say a Penn State student was pulled deeper into an alleged cocaine ring after he could not repay a $1,500 spring break loan. The grand jury indictment alleges that Agostino Abbatiello then made Lars Zeepvat deliver cocaine for him.
The charges announced this week reach 13 current and former Penn State students and describe a drug network tied to Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi. Zeepvat, 24, and Abbatiello, 24, are both charged with felony corrupt organizations, conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity and other offenses, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.
The case matters now because Abbatiello surrendered Tuesday after missing a scheduled arraignment Monday and was ordered jailed without bail. That puts one of the central figures in the alleged operation behind bars as the criminal case begins to move through the courts.
Investigators say Abbatiello was not just another student in the mix. The indictment alleges he was the largest distributor of cocaine at Penn State University from 2023 to 2024 and boasted about the money he was making from selling it. After a large purchase of 100 grams from a supplier in his hometown on Long Island around spring 2023, the grand jury says, he shifted from using cocaine to selling it for profit.
Zeepvat gave a different picture of how the relationship began. He told investigators that he and Abbatiello were close friends and worked together to distribute drugs. He also said he used cocaine when he first went to Penn State, had a source in Philadelphia who supplied him and other fraternity brothers, including Abbatiello, and later looked for a new supplier after that source stopped communicating. Once a new Long Island supplier was found, Zeepvat said Abbatiello bought the cocaine and then expanded sales beyond the fraternity house to other fraternities and students.
The indictment goes further than a simple buyer-seller arrangement. It alleges Abbatiello had fraternity brothers or roommates help cut and package cocaine into smaller amounts, and that he paid for drug-buying trips in cash or discounted cocaine. Zeepvat allegedly told investigators that he and another fraternity brother made three trips to buy large amounts of drugs for Abbatiello. The same document also says Abbatiello loaned Zeepvat $1,500 for a spring break trip with other fraternity brothers, then made him deliver cocaine when the debt was not repaid.
That is the friction at the center of the Penn State drug case: Zeepvat describes a partnership, while prosecutors describe a hierarchy with Abbatiello at the top and pressure flowing downward when money was owed. Abbatiello's attorney declined to comment Thursday. What remains unresolved is how much of the wider ring rested on friendship, and how much on coercion.
