Agostino Abbatiello’s attorney is fighting to keep his client out of pre-trial detention after a judge refused to grant bail to the accused ringleader of a Penn State fraternity drug ring.
Philip Masorti filed an emergency motion on Tuesday arguing that the 24-year-old Long Island native is being unlawfully held, and he asked to delay Wednesday’s hearing on the matter. Centre County Court of Common Pleas rejected the request, calling it “moot,” and the proceeding went ahead as scheduled with Abbatiello and five co-defendants present.
Masorti emphasized that Abbatiello stands alone among the 13 alleged co-conspirators in being denied bail entirely. The attorney noted his client’s clean criminal record and lack of flight risk in the statement he provided to CBS News.
“He has no criminal record, no history of flight, and, after a two-year investigation, the motion states that law enforcement never asserted that he used violence, threatened violence, or was seen with a weapon,” Masorti said.
The Wednesday hearing also drew appearances from alleged co-conspirators Seth Beardsley and Thomas Robinson, as well as Thomas’s father Paul Robinson. The elder Robinson is one of 14 people charged in the operation, a group that includes four current Penn State students, nine alumni, and the one parent.
Prosecutors are pushing to consolidate all 14 cases for trial together, according to an Aug. 28 motion. The defendants were charged after authorities uncovered what they describe as a coordinated cocaine supply network linking Penn State’s Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternities to dealers in New York and Philadelphia, with distribution targeting fellow students.
The trafficking investigation spanned roughly two years before charges were filed. Members of the two fraternities allegedly worked with out-of-state suppliers to move cocaine onto campus and into the hands of buyers within the student population.
Abbatiello surrendered to authorities following the unsealing of charges against the group. His defense team continues to challenge the conditions of his detention as the case moves toward consolidated proceedings.