Agostino Abbatiello, dubbed Pablo Pledgescobar, is a 24-year-old Long Island resident and former Penn State accounting student. Abbatiello has emerged as the central figure in an alleged cocaine trafficking network that operated through off-campus fraternity houses at Pennsylvania State University.
Abbatiello surrendered to authorities on Tuesday and was denied bail after appearing in court on multiple felony charges. The felony charges included possession, conspiracy and corrupt organization offenses.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against 14 people, alleging the operation distributed cocaine during 2023 and 2024. Prosecutors identified Abbatiello as one of the alleged leaders of a “coordinated and highly-profitable drug-trafficking crew” which included members of the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities.
According to court documents cited by NBC New York, Abbatiello is from Westbury, New York, and studied accounting at Penn State.
According to an attorney from SMB Law Group, Abbatiello's blog's “About Me” page described him as someone with a passion for numbers and accounting. Prosecutors have alleged that behind that public profile, he coordinated large-scale cocaine purchases and campus distribution.
Investigators have also alleged that Abbatiello and fellow defendant Thomas Robinson regularly traveled from State College to New York City and Philadelphia to obtain large quantities of cocaine. Authorities further said that the drugs that the duo transported were taken to fraternity houses, where members and pledges allegedly cut, packaged and distributed the narcotics to students.
One witness told investigators they paid Abbatiello more than $50,000 for cocaine supplies, according to charging documents cited by NBC New York.
Prosecutors alleged sales continued even after Abbatiello graduated from Penn State. Those allegations have not yet been tested in court.
Besides Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson, prosecutors charged Mohammed Hurabi and Lars Zeepvat with felony counts including corrupt organizations, conspiracy and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity. Robert Zanolla also faces felony conspiracy and related charges.
Eight additional students, namely, Liam Smith, Michael Brogno, Kaden Howe, Connor Hurleigh, Seth Beardsley, Kyle Ridpath, Daniel Price and Charles Wiseman, were charged with misdemeanor drug possession and paraphernalia.
Thomas Robinson's father, Paul Robinson, 59, was also charged with hiding drugs and cash in a safe and obstructing the investigation.
Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More
