A Pennsylvania State University student accused by authorities of playing a leading role in a cocaine operation was photographed being reunited with his parents after they posted his bail.
Agostino Abbatiello, 24, was embraced by his father, Mario, as he walked out of the Centre County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania on Thursday evening, according to exclusive Daily Mail photos.
Mario was seen tenderly holding his smiling son’s face during the emotional reunion.
After appearing in court in red jail clothing, Abbatiello left the facility wearing a rumpled blue suit and white shirt, carrying a clear bag containing his belongings.
His mother, Danielle, also appeared overjoyed to see the embattled accounting student, wrapping him in a tight hug moments after his release.
The couple paid the $250,000 bail on their credit card to free their son from jail and are believed to have driven him home to their sleek $1.4 million Long Island home after Wednesday’s hearing.
Abbatiello has been held at Centre County since August over claims he sold multiple kilos of the drug.
His Venmo showed $116,000 of payments had been paid to him and that he had paid out $194,000 using the same app, Centre County Court heard Wednesday.
Venmo is used for electronic payments and does not record any cash transactions that people may also choose to make.
Abbatiello faces felony charges of multiple counts of possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy. He has yet to enter a plea to those counts.
Agostino Abbatiello, left, was embraced by his father, Mario, right, after he was freed from jail
Abbatiello, 24, was in court in handcuffs and shackles Wednesday as he appeared before a judge for his preliminary hearing. He has yet to enter a plea
He was freed after his parents posted his $250,000 bail on their credit card – he must reside with them at their $1.4 million Long Island home, above
He was identified by authorities as the alleged kingpin of a cocaine trafficking operation months after co-defendant Thomas Robinson was arrested in December 20234
Robinson cooperated with a grand jury investigation and identified Abbatiello as the main supplier of the cocaine tied to campus fraternities. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.
Despite Abbatiello’s parents sitting in the front row at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, he appeared jittery.
Mario, who runs an asphalt business, and his wife, Danielle, the CEO of Deco Home Hogar Inteligente, sat beside each other with sphinx-like neutral expressions as sheriffs flanked their son into the court room in handcuffs, shackles and a red jump suit.
Abbatiello sat in the courtroom with an almost-scowl like expression as he anxiously waited for the proceedings to begin.
The alleged drug dealer fidgeted with his handcuffs, moving them up and down on his wrists.
A quick smile rushed across his face, likely when he locked eyes with his loyal parents, before he was escorted to the defense table, wobbling a bit as he walked with his feet shackled together.
Abbatiello stared at the ceiling, rocked back-and-forth in his chair, and stretched his neck as his collegiate peers testified about the details of his alleged crimes.
The only possible crack in the dean’s list student’s facade came during testimony from Abbatiello’s ‘close friend’ and fraternity brother, Lars Zeepvat, about an alleged drug sale said to have been carried out in the presence of Abbatiello’s younger brother.
Zeepvat told the court how the trio had gone out to get food but stopped at the nearby Delta Upsilon fraternity along the way.
Abbattiello was a high-achieving dork at school. He maintained academic success at Pennsylvania State University – but prosecutors accuse him of running a cocaine ring
Abbatiello left jail in a wrinkled blue suit, carrying a giant trash bag with his personal items
When he was reunited with his parents his mother, Danielle, embraced him with a tight hug
His father, Mario, pulled him into a hug after first caressing his face. Danielle stood nearby
A Delta Upsilon brother, believed to be Robinson, got into the car and ‘Augie gave him a brown bag, which I believed was cocaine,’ Zeepvat said, using a nickname for Abbatiello.
Robinson is believed to have handed Abbatiello a bag of money, the court heard.
Abbatiello looked down at the defense table and bowed his head as Zeepvat testified about the alleged exchange. The defense has not commented on Zeepvat’s allegation.
The suspected cocaine kingpin grew up in the ritzy suburb of Westbury with his father, mother and two younger siblings.
The three children were ‘all taken care of, spoon-fed,’ a neighbor told Fox News in the days following his arrest. ‘They weren’t the kind of kids to take the garbage out or shovel the snow.’
Another community member described the family as ‘pretty nice people.’
Abbatiello was seemingly a star student throughout his entire academic career.
He amassed a collection of outstanding achievement awards in middle school and was inducted into the National Honor Society as a high schooler, according to a photograph shared on his mother’s Facebook page.
Danielle, leaving the Centre County Courthouse after Abbatiello’s preliminary hearing, and Mario sat in the first row with blank expressions as their son’s peers detailed alleged crimes
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Danielle tried to cover Mario’s face with her shawl as their car drove away from the courthouse after a judge granted their son bail
Abbatiello grew up in the ritzy suburb of Westbury, New York with his parents and two siblings
He attended Chaminade High School, a prestigious all-boys private Catholic school in Long Island that charges $20,000-a-year, where he played football for two years.
His academic success continued throughout his collegiate career and saw him graduate from Penn State in May 2024 with an accounting degree and a 3.3 GPA.
He also made the Dean’s List for three consecutive semesters, according to a since-deleted blog post on the university’s website.
Abbatiello became a hotshot across campus Greek Life after he rushed unsanctioned Sigma Chi as a sophomore in 2021, Zeepvat testified. Sigma Chi operates outside of the university and is not recognized as an official student organization.
He, Zeepvat and two friends would drive to Philadelphia to purchase cocaine for personal consumption amongst the frat, the court heard.
By their junior year, business ‘started to ramp up’ and the pair were selling drugs to Sigma Chi, Zeepvat said.
Their Philadelphia-based dealer ghosted them and Abbatiello reached out to RJ, a cocaine dealer in Long Island who he knew from high school, the court heard.
‘First time he purchased from RJ it was the most we’ve ever seen and it was 100 grams,’ Zeepvat testified in court.
Abbatiello became a hotshot across Penn State Greek Life after he rushed unsanctioned Sigma Chi as a sophomore in 2021
‘Agostino brought back the coke the first time he went to New York and put it on the social room table [at the frat house] for everyone to see. People were enamored with how much it was.’
The pair consumed some of the cocaine themselves, while also selling bags of it for $60 to $120 each, Zeepvat testified.
Abbatiello’s business was quickly booming. He started selling cocaine to Thomas Robinson, a member of Penn State’s Delta Upsilon fraternity, and other fraternities by the end of junior year, the court heard.
During their senior year, Abbatiello was dealing larger amounts of cocaine, became flashy with his money, and started referring to himself as the Godfather, Zeepvat testified.
‘I knew Augie was making more. He started buying more clothes, had a different wardrobe,’ he told the court.
‘There was one thing he bought over the summer, between my junior and senior year, a very extravagant purchase, a $5,000 bong to smoke cannabis in.’
He added that Abbatiello’s gambling habit picked up, claiming he was betting ‘hands of anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 – a max of $8,000 to $10,000.’
‘After the 100 gram purchase things shifted. It was no longer to get high with your friends. I saw a difference in Augie. He started selling for money and for popularity.’
Abbatiello appeared relatively unphased in court except for when his Sigma Chi brother, Lars Zeepvat (pictured, outside court) testified about an alleged drug deal that took place
Muhammad Huraibi (left, outside the courthouse) testified during Abbatiello’s hearing on Wednesday – he is also charged in the alleged cocaine trafficking ring
Thomas Robinson (left, in his booking photo) testified at Abbatiello’s hearing. Robert Zanolla (right) attended the proceeding, but did not address the court. Both men have been charged alongside Abbatiello but have yet to enter a plea
Abbatiello was working as a financial advisor in Boca Raton, Florida, at the time of his arrest, his lawyer told his pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.
Per the conditions of his bail, Abbatiello has surrendered his passport and will be residing in Long Island with his parents for the foreseeable future.
He must remain sober, is barred from contacting any witnesses in his case, and must be driven to and from all future court proceedings by his parents. They also must maintain a weapon-free home.
‘It’s a good day for us,’ his attorney Philip Masorti told the media outside the courthouse Wednesday.
He explained that after the preliminary hearing, Mario and Danielle met with a bail bondsman at his office and paid the premium to free their son. A condition of Abbatiello’s bail was that no illegally-obtained money could be used to fund it.
‘If any of you have kids, it’s not very pleasant, sometimes parents do that and certainly that happened,’ he said.
‘So we were able to come back down and explain to the court that he posted the bond and the sources of the funds were not from illegal activity but rather from the parents’ credit card.’
Fourteen people have been charged in connection to the alleged Penn State drug trafficking ring, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said.
Paul Robinson, the father of Thomas Robinson, also attended court with wife Laura. Paul is charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension for taking steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs and cash, and obstructing the investigation
Abbatiello with his lawyer Philip Masorti on Wednesday. After the hearing, Masorti told the media: ‘It’s a good day for us’
Zeepvat and Robert Zanolla, both of whom were in Sigma Chi, and Delta Upsilon brothers Thomas Robinson and Mohammed Huraibi have also been charged with felonies over the alleged drug ring.
All four waived their preliminary hearings. Zeepvat, Robinson and Huraibi all took the stand to testify against Abbatiello on Wednesday.
Paul Robinson, Thomas Robinson’s father, was charged with felony tampering, hindering apprehension for taking steps to conceal evidence, including a safe containing drugs and cash, and obstructing the investigation.
Eight other defendants facing misdemeanors have preliminary hearings scheduled for October.