{"id":1009857,"date":"2026-08-19T02:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009857\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T02:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T02:03:49","slug":"penn-state-coke-bust-news-agostino-abbatiello-of-westbury-new-york-accused-of-being-largest-distributor-in-drug-trafficking-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1009857\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State coke bust news: Agostino Abbatiello of Westbury, New York accused of being largest distributor in drug trafficking ring"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK — A 24-year-old Penn State graduate from New York is among 14 people indicted in an alleged cocaine distribution operation<\/a> tied to two fraternities at the university, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Agostino Abbatiello, who lived on a well-manicured street in Long Island’s Westbury area, was identified in a criminal complaint as the largest distributor in the alleged cocaine ring at Penn State.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbbatiello was at the very top of the chain,\u201d the attorney general said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that Abbatiello\u2019s former fraternity, Sigma Chi, and Delta Upsilon hosted parties involving drugs and engaged in hazing that included the use of those drugs.<\/p>\n

\"14<\/a><\/p>\n

14 people have been charged in connection with an alleged cocaine trafficking ring tied to Penn State University frats Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi.<\/p>\n

\u201cCutting and bagging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities,\u201d the attorney general said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the university said, \u201cWe are horrified by these serious allegations,\u201d adding that \u201ccriminal activity, including hazing such as this, has no place at our institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investigators allege the drug activity occurred during 2023 and 2024. The investigation resulted in 14 indictments announced Monday, including that of Paul Robinson, a student\u2019s parent and attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201c…Who we allege took steps to conceal evidence including a safe containing drugs and cash,\u201d the attorney general said.<\/p>\n

Also arrested was Robert Zanolla, 24, of Manhasset. Prosecutors allege Zanolla helped move cocaine from New York City.<\/p>\n

When approached at a residence connected to Zanolla, a person at the door responded to questions from our sister station, ABC7 Eyewitness News in New York, by saying, \u201cYeah I\u2019m not talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attorney general said the arrests should serve as a warning to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because you\u2019re at college and you\u2019re making money and you think that this is something you can get away with … it\u2019s not,\u201d the attorney general said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the investigation remains ongoing and expressed hope that it will send a message to young adults heading to colleges around the country this week.<\/p>\n

Some neighbors of those charged agreed, saying the case should serve as a wake-up call.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not in a good place call your parents, call somebody that you love that will help you that\u2019s really what it\u2019s about, it\u2019s unfortunate and I hope these boys are OK and their future\u2019s OK,\u201d said Trish Dessi, a Manhasset resident.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK — A 24-year-old Penn State graduate from New York is among 14 people indicted in an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1009474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[404387,404385,404386,5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,5835,404381,404384,404382,404379,404380,404383,247152,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1009857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-404387","tag-agostino-abbatiello-penn-state","tag-agostino-abbatiello-westbury","tag-america","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-penn-state","tag-penn-state-arrest","tag-penn-state-cocaine","tag-penn-state-coke","tag-penn-state-coke-bust","tag-penn-state-drug-charges","tag-penn-state-fraternity-drug-bust","tag-penn-state-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1009474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}