Three Penn State Drug Ring Defendants Waive Hearings, Head to Trial
Three defendants in the alleged Penn State cocaine trafficking ring have waived preliminary hearings and are headed to trial. Five others still face hearings at Centre County Courthouse.
Three Penn State Drug Ring Defendants Move Toward Trial After Waiving Hearings
Three defendants in the alleged Penn State drug trafficking ring have waived their preliminary hearings and are proceeding toward trial, onwardstate.com reports.
Kaden Howe, Daniel Price, and Connor Hurleigh appeared at the Centre County Courthouse on Wednesday morning, where they waived their scheduled 8:30 a.m. hearings. All three face misdemeanor counts of drug possession and paraphernalia.
The charges stem from a broader investigation involving 13 current and former Penn State students accused of operating a cocaine ring that ran primarily out of two off-campus fraternity houses. The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General announced the developments in a news release.
Howe was a member of Acacia, a third fraternity implicated in the case. According to the grand jury presentment, Howe purchased cocaine on multiple occasions from Mohammed Huraibi, a member of Delta Upsilon and one of the ring's early members. Howe initially bought smaller amounts for personal use, but Huraibi alleged that on several occasions Howe "purchased larger amounts of cocaine to sell at his fraternity."
Former Delta Upsilon member Hurleigh allegedly bought bags of cocaine from Thomas Robinson, identified in court documents as one of the alleged ringleaders of the operation. Those purchases reportedly began in August 2024.
All three defendants were released on their own recognizance, allowing them to remain free while their cases proceed. As conditions of release, they must appear at all court dates, comply with all orders from bail authorities, and refrain from criminal activity. The next scheduled proceeding is a criminal pretrial conference set for January 11 at 8 a.m.
A formal arraignment in county court is the next step for five additional defendants — Charlie Weisman, Michael Brongo, Kyle Ridpath, Seth Beardsley, and Liam Smith — who are also among the eight former and current Penn State students facing misdemeanor charges linked to the alleged drug operation. Those five were still scheduled for preliminary hearings at the Centre County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Office of the Attorney General confirmed that all eight defendants originally charged with misdemeanors in the case have now waived their preliminary hearings.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)