Prominent Pittsburgh lawyer among those charged in Penn State frat cocaine ring
Pittsburgh attorney Paul Robinson was charged with helping to hide evidence from an alleged multistate cocaine trafficking ring at the Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternities at Pennsylvania State University run by his son, Thomas. (Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office)
A prominent Pittsburgh lawyer and his son are among those charged in a Pennsylvania State University frat brother drug trafficking scandal.
Paul Robinson, an attorney with Meyer, Darragh, Buckler, Bebenek & Eck was charged with helping to hide evidence from an alleged multistate cocaine trafficking ring in the Sigma Chi and Delta Upsilon fraternities at Penn State run by his son, Thomas, and other current and former students, according to an Aug. 17 news release from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office.
In all, 14 people were charged, with Thomas and Agostino Abbatiello described as the alleged ringleaders of the operation. Thirteen of them were Penn State students at or around the time of the alleged conduct in 2023 and 2024, when prosecutors said the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi houses at Penn State were cutting and packaging cocaine kilos at a time.
“This was a coordinated and highly profitable drug trafficking crew revolving around two senior members of the fraternities, other fraternity brothers and pledges,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “In fact, according to the evidence uncovered, cutting and packaging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the fraternities.”
In a statement, Robinson’s law firm told KDKA-TV: “The allegations concern Mr. Robinson individually and do not involve the firm, its clients or the legal services provided by the firm. … Because the criminal proceeding is ongoing, the firm will not comment on the substance of the allegations or speculate regarding the evidence.”
The New York Post and Above the Law have coverage.
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