Five men charged in an alleged cocaine distribution ring tied to a Penn State fraternity have filed paperwork in Centre County court signaling they intend to fight the charges rather than accept a plea.
Agostino Abbatiello, Mohammed Huraibi, Robert Zanolla, Thomas Robinson and Paul Robinson each waived their formal arraignments, which had been scheduled for Wednesday at the Centre County Courthouse, according to the Office of the Court Administrator. None of the five will appear in person for that step. Their next scheduled court date is a pretrial conference on Nov. 16.
Abbatiello, Zanolla and Thomas Robinson requested jury trials on their waiver forms. Huraibi and Paul Robinson indicated they plan to plead not guilty but did not specify whether they want a jury or non-jury trial.
The five are among 14 people charged in the case, which prosecutors say involved using fraternity connections to bring cocaine into State College, where it was packaged and sold to Penn State students.
Testimony details fraternity operation
Thomas Robinson, a former member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, testified that he and Huraibi began buying cocaine from Abbatiello in 2023, starting with about 100 grams for roughly $4,000. He said the cocaine was stored in his fraternity room, where he and Huraibi broke it down into half-gram bags that sold for about $80 each.
Robinson testified that the purchases later grew to kilogram quantities, and that he eventually began buying directly from Abbatiello through Snapchat, where messages disappeared after 24 hours. Huraibi also testified that he and Robinson bought cocaine in bulk to resell, packaging it themselves before fraternity pledges got involved.
Charging documents describe Abbatiello as a top-level supplier who used fraternity connections to distribute cocaine near Penn State. Zanolla is accused of helping make trips to New York to obtain cocaine and bring it back to the State College area.
Defense attorneys respond
Zanolla’s attorney, Korey Leslie, confirmed that his client has entered a formal not-guilty plea and requested a jury trial. Leslie said the defense has requested all evidence prosecutors intend to use at trial and will review it while preparing for possible pretrial litigation.
