112 Comments
More news this morning about Operation Ivy League. For synthesis, check out yesterday’s Six O’Clock Wrap-Up.
- According to NYC Department of Corrections latest files on Perez, Wymbs, Coles, Klein and David, the students are currently being held at the Manhattan Correctional Facility at 125 White Street. Their next court date has already been posted for January 18th, 2011. That date’s accuracy depends on the defendants’ decision to continue to plead ‘not guilty’ or to change their plea to avoid a trial.
- DNA Info confirms that Wymbs was the only student with a parent at the arraignment. His father was at yesterday’s arraignment and “Wymbs looked back at him several times to make eye contact during the proceedings.” DNA Info also has the most detailed breakdown of the drugs each student was accused of selling: Wymbs of LSD and MDMA; Coles of marijuana; Perez of Adderall and “other amphetamines”; David of marijuana and cocaine; Klein of marijuana, LSD, DMT and MDMA.
- The Times has pictures of all the students sitting in court yesterday. Perez (aka Vincenzo) has a band-aid his right eye apparently due to a scuffle with the police. The Times quotes William Novak, an assistant attorney in the Special Narcotics Office: “He fought pretty vigorously with the warrant team.”
- The Times also reports that Harrison David was the main target of Operation Ivy League, which originally began after the NYPD received multiple anonymous tips via Crimestoppers about David’s drug dealing. David has also been accused of having the most contact with the three downtown suppliers arrested earlier. David has been charged with selling 20 grams of cocaine as well as marijuana.
- Operation Ivy League made the storied front page of the Daily News. Headline: “Ivy Sleaze”, accompanied by a picture of Perez being led away by cops. The Post’s headline: “‘Columbian’ Drug Ring is Broken Up.” The Daily News reported that Klein’s family found out about his arrest from a reporter.
- Some news from the students’ attorneys, via Bloomberg. Wymbs’ lawyer, Michael Bachner, who we reported last night is a high-profile white-collar criminal lawyer who has dealt with Caroline Guiliani and Bernard Kerik’s cases, said that Wymbs has applied to grad school and “hopes this arrest will not derail his plans.” Perez’s lawyer identified Perez as the “only student who does not come from financial means,” noting that his mother is a marine biologist in the Bahamas.
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112 Comments
@lame ugh, NYPD. I wish they’d arrest the fucking rapists on college campuses instead of the kids that are supplying drugs to other, consenting students. Oh, wait, NYPD cops are rapists themselves and have been caught on tape threatening citizens with prison rape!
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/28/2009-04-28_nypd_cops_charged_in_rape_of_druken_woman_they_escorted_home.html
http://www.theagitator.com/2010/08/18/guys-in-jail-are-going-to-rape-you/
I’m so glad that when my tax dollars aren’t going towards paying lawsuits against the NYPD for rape and abuse, they’re going towards buying 11,000 dollars worth of drugs for five months so they can ruin some college kids’ lives! College kids who live in dorms and sell to other college kids. college. where many people experiment with drugs. willingly. and survive.
WOW. I FEEL SO SAFE. THANK YOU NYPD.
@Anon I simply do not understand the outrage that the police would dare to arrest Columbia students. I have no more desire to see these kids in jail than I do any small time drug dealers(ie no desire at all), and I’m all for the legaliztion of weed. That said, this is how the system WORKS. You can’t go after the big guys without getting the small ones because the really serious drug dealers have a lot more resources, are a lot harder to catch and are way less likely to be stupid enough to sell to undercover agents. The police will always go from the bottom up to try and get the guys that really SHOULD be in jail. And yes, it is unfortunate that this time that meant these kids, but it also makes it unlikely they will do any serious time (absent a desire to make an example of them, which is probably what I would worry about more). But I don’t see why their going to Columbia should make them more or less immune from prosecution than your typical low level dealer that police use to try and track down the big guys.
@if theyre so desperate for tuition money, why dont they quit the dumb frats theyre in and save themselves $800 a year of just dues. then another few hundred bucks for alcohol.
@Anon A new trend amongst prestigious schools has recently emerged.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102302423.html
Georgetown Meth Lab. (above link)
We simply had to outdo them. Columbia #1
@This Seems Applicable If you walk through the garden, you better watch your back
Well I beg your pardon, walk a straight and narrow track
@Anonymous This media circus is so fucked up.
@Anonymous GS is stronger
@Anonymous I thought bwog was a fairly impartial, reputable blog.
Way to take down comments just because they expose negative aspects of the jewish faith, even if they are abslutely relevant to the post.
@... Damnit, people are starting to cite The Fed as a legitimate source of information in comments on the Gawker:
“There may be a LOT more to come on this story:
There are rumors on campus that Jose Stephan Perez (who goes by Stephan) was “very close” to Lee Bollinger the President of Columbia. Wonder what that means………
I accessed an interview of Perez that was conducted in Lee Bollinger’s office without Bollinger there.
Perez explained to the interviewer that “Lee and I go way back.”
Perez refused to comment on a campus legend that he screwed a “campus bitch” so hard that she had to get stitches but came back the next night asking for more (wouldnt the stiches come undone?). But he went on about his poor childhood in the drug war zone of Mexico.
Stephan is also described as having “long, luxurious hair flowing like a modern day Achilles”
Sounds like a real wise ass. Cant link the article from this computer but maybe someone else can do it.”
Why is everyone a couch reporter these days who doesn’t check the reliability of their sources?
@CC is filled with murderers Proof: Lucien Carr went to CC and he killed a guy.
@That is one case Doesn’t prove shit.
@dealing? grr lack of embedding ruining my puns…
@Anonymous Hey Bwog, what’s with losing the reply context after the ‘too many posts’ thing?
@.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvowygkg43g
@Anonymous you can say it to my face. got class in IAB 417 at 2:40. i’ll be wearing an orange ball cap.
@Bwog can you tell us more about their lawyers?
@Anonymous If the students Harrison David and Christopher Coles had to sell drugs (bad choice) to pay for tuition, where were the student advisors for these students? how much did they know about the students dire financial stuation? The victims here are the arrested students themselves and therefore, no civil lawsuits can be filed. In my opinion, Columbia University has some vicarious liability.
@Well They’re lying to try and drum up some sympathy.
@Anonymous Financial aid at Columbia manages to royally fuck some people over. Especially if your family has any money saved up that isn’t in retirement funds. So if your parents refuse to pay your tuition, I could see how that could screw you over pretty quickly
@Anonymous I don’t know about Harrison, but Chris wasn’t lying. His parents got mad at him sophomore year and cut him off financially
@wait perez was selling just adderall? i know that’s illegal but it’s not THAT big of a deal right? comparing to cocaine and lsd? ….could he potentially get off much easier because of that?
@Uh... It’s a form of methamphetamine and therefore a schedule 2 drug. It’s on the same list as Oxycodone and opiates.
@Anonymous uh…its an amphetamine not a form of meth.
@Anonymous ur UH… dumb
@I think he was also selling ecstasy (MDMA), which is what the article means by “other amphetamines.”
@but... …it says MDMA for the ones who were selling MDMA.
@aaaaoooooo I guess one group of 5 guys is moving in to the neighborhood as another moves in!
@haha stephan was/is vicepresident of a group in campus called PORCOLOMBIA- how ironic he gets caught dealing drugs.
@Scary How did the arrest go down? Noisy and nasty or quiet and discreet? Time to pick out something nice to wear or just woken up as they bust your door in and grab you outta bed? Just curious.
@CC '10 I don’t care if you are 20 years old, that makes you an adult, and selling drugs is illegal (whether you agree that should be the case or not). I won’t presume guilt, but if they are convicted, I hope someone throws the book at them – get out of my school and stay away.
@Anonymous If you want to throw the book at them…consider any Columbia student/alumni that has done anything illegal or ethically sketchy and I’m sure there won’t be a “book” left in all the whole library system.
@Ugh2 Having never been arrested, I cannot say for sure but I assume it is not a leisurely process. Cops bust in, rouse the perp, search the premises and off you go, right? No time for shower and shave and what not. Maybe that helps to account for those kinda nasty looking pics from the courtroom. Wow. Only in my worst nightmare.
@Persecuting Greek Orgs? Come on... Great…so 3 were part of fraternities…that’s only from those who were caught…not counting the numerous small fry dealers that are no doubt still trolling campus (probably lying low now). This really isn’t indicative of how Greek life is as a whole. Have you not seen the positive events that these organizations put on? From benefit dinners to end human trafficking, fashion shows to raise money for the fight against breast cancer, to bone marrow registration drives for dying children. Don’t judge Greek organizations in their entirety just because 5 kids made a terrible TERRIBLE judgment call.
@Anonymous While not all Greeks do hard drugs there’s some serious shit going down in Greek life aka underaged drinking and probably smoking weed. This isn’t a stereotype, it’s truth.
@Persecuting Greek Orgs? Come on... underage drinking is not exclusive to greek life….
@.. you think on campus is underage drinking not happening? if you’re going to investigate the fraternities, you may as well investigate every single EC party, carman, john jay, and/or bonding event for any dance team, a capella group, you name it on this campus. so don’t go blaming it on the greek organizations because you know that they are not the only ones doing it, you’re just trying to point a finger at an organization you have an issue with, without really knowing what it is like because you are not involved.
@well... think about it this way- for these criminals to go to Columbia, 45 other kids were denied. Throw the book at ’em.
@Anonymous agreed, though i think not one of those 45 rejected kids would trade places with them now.
@Anonymous Of course those rejected kids probably would try to find an Adderall hookup so they could keep up. Catch 22.
@Math? Each of these kids is enrolled nine times? No wonder they turned to drug dealing….
@Anonymous You’re stupid. Go away English major.
@Anonymous WELL….
u have no couth. they beat out those other kids for a reason. stop whining because one of your friends isn’t with you in Butler right now.
@also on the cover of the daily news: “Dog-doo afternoon: cops beat me over poop”
@Anonymous The Times actually called Stephan “Stephan Vincenzo” instead of “Jose Perez” LOL
@Anonymous The NYTimes also said that all 5 students were 20 years old… they have some corrections to make.
@Students Against Fraternities and Sororiti I’m think about starting Students Against Fraternities and Sororities to be a watchdog over these groups/give them pressure to clean up their act, thoguhts? Should I do it? Would I have any support?
@no. Yes, please do. While you’re at it, call the Waaaaaaambulance!
@Anonymous Needs a better name. One which puts specific criticisms of the Greek system right out there.
I suggest Students Against Fraternities’ Endless Recruitment and Sororities’ Empirical Xenophobia.
@.. take one look at how many outside organizations most sorority women are involved in and how many friends these women have OUTSIDE of sororities, and you will realize that your statement is completely false.
@.. because this is sooooo going to help the situation.
get over it, let people involved in greek life be involved in greek life. it is something that enriches their college experience. they let you be involved in your organizations, right?
for the most part, greek life DOESN”T affect you so let them be.
@Anonymous There’s already a group for that: it’s called Residential Life and the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life.
Seriously, like you need to be in a frat to sell drugs. This is a COLUMBIA issue and not just a Greek one. This campus has a drug culture that reaches beyond 114th street.
@alumnus Wait … I thought Wymbs was bailed out by his parents at his arraignment? Why is he still in custody?
@Ugh Anyone think the timing of the bust had something to do with upcoming winter break? I can just picture these guys planning some huge expensive trip to South Beach to show off the proceeds of their venture to new admirers!
@Anonymous did anyone else read the other headlines on the Daily News?
@What OK, I do feel for these guys a little and hope the truth comes out, justice gets done, they’re only 20, blah blah blah
but how fucking stupid do you have to be to resist arrest and “fight vigorously” against a warrant team
@I think the posting had more to do with his COlumbia sweatshirt than anything else
@Anonymous what kind of graduate program was Wymbs applying to?
@Anonymous If it was something like pharmacology he might actually have a chance, given his extracurricular activities reflecting a sincere interest in the field
@anon Actuarial science, he was/is an applied math major.
@Anonymous fantastic, these morons are sullying columbia’s reputation. as an ivy league college we have to always be on our guard because the media is quick to make us a lightning rod for criticism.
hope they learn some hard lessons in jail.
@ugh learn to be an individual and realize that you and Columbia University do not equal the same thing. Columbia’s reputation does not equal yours, so chill out. People can criticize “Columbia” all they want, but who really cares when it’s not you as a person people are saying shit about. I think people need to realize that this abstract notion of “Columbia” doesn’t really give a shit about us outside of the fact that we’re giving them money to be here.
@soo (at HQ about a month ago after lighting up a blunt)
cop1: this is some dank shit
cop2: this stuff checks out, definitely weed
cop1: so are we gonna bust these guys?
cop2: no i think we should test out a couple more pounds just to be sure
@Ouch Anyone know about this alleged scuffle from Stephan? The injury on his head? He did not really try to fight back, did he? Looking at his history here he definitely needed to learn some humility, but this is NOT the way I would have hoped for.
Can we attend the next hearing? Are they just being held until then? Wow.
@Anonymous they’ll probably be back in court before that time, esp if they make a plea bargain by then (likely). that date is just set so that they are not sitting in jail forever. then again, it’s not that much time from now considering the holidays are coming up.
@alumnus Yes, the hearings are open to the public, but hearings are usually short. They’re more like due dates for assignments, with all the work having been done between attorneys between hearings.
@The NYPD As I’m sure you know is not a gentle organization. You can be charged with resisting arrest if you adjust your arms when they’re cuffing you. While I suppose there is a chance that he “fought pretty vigorously”, I think it’s much more likely that the cops threw him to the ground and then claimed he was resisting.
@at least now those idiots won’t confuse us with colombia the country.
@wishful thinking really? ColUmbia drug bust confuses ME
@wrong date technically it’s not january 18th of this year, it’s already december. it’d have to be “january 18, 2011” or “this coming january 18th”
@Eliza Yep! Fixed.
@YAYS NEW THREAD!!!!! comments anyone, anyone?? comments? bueller, anyone anyone?
@Anonymous They should have checked for student IDs before selling.
@alumnus Yeah, if they were selling to off-the-street customers, strangers, and not exclusively to classmates, people they knew, then their risks went up along with their profits.
@yeah why did he wear the columbia sweatshirt? what a idiot
@umm pretty sure you don’t get to coordinate your wardrobe when you’re getting arrested…
@Anonymous Type in first word of the last bullet.
@Anonymous Typo
@Mr. Cellaneous Irony
@Anonymous Why did he have to wear a Columbia sweater?
@soo so the convicts at rikers will know that hes not just a drug dealer. hes a smart drug dealer. which explains why he got caught…
@Persecuting Greek Orgs? Come on... they probably didn’t have time to change in between the popo busting in and getting cuffed.
@The Police named the bust Operation Ivy League. I’m pretty sure everyone is aware of the students affiliation with Columbia. Wearing a sweatshirt is not going to do anymore damage to our precious reputation.
@Anonymous what kind of graduate school would want to accept an upper-class drug dealer? he just seems greedy and evil, and i’m not sure why anyone would want to associate themselves with him ever again.
@Firstly My comment always stays on top. There’s a copycat out there. Be Aware!
Second, on a more serious note, as much as I hate frat guys and those five to be specific, I would like to think that in retrospect, any of them would probably never think of selling drugs, knowing the consequences. And all for what? 11,000 dollars? Not worth the trouble, the fear the fucking bail? Plus each kid’s cut is a little more than a mere 2,000 dollars. Way to throw your lives away for a pocket change. I hope others can learn from this, and realize that there are consequences to anything done illegally.
@alumnus That’s just the amount sold to the undercovers. I’m sure they made a lot more.
@Anonymous Harrison dealt coke and definitely made the most profit of them all, which supports why he needed it for tuition money. You can dfffefinitely make enough over a few months to pay for tuition selling snow since the margin for gain is really high, as opposed to weed which is like 10-20% max (per ounce, that’s maybe $60, or a measly few dollars per gram). I know him well and I remember when he was getting his financial aid letter and worrying about if he’d get enough. His story about paying isn’t a lie.
Honestly, weed, E, adderall, and LSD dealers don’t sell for profit. Usually they pick up enough to have on hand for when friends ask for some, or they sell so the profits can pay for their own habit. These guys aren’t your everyday sleazy dealers who try to rip you off at every corner and want to do you harm. In Harrison’s case, he legit needed to make money and for one reason or another felt that drugs would be the only way to make enough to pay for tuition in the given time frame. I don’t think anyone could say there’s a job out there that pays $39k in 9 months and would hire one of us. Of course, I’m sure being a drug dealer was a lot more fun too. Plus the free drugs.
@Doesn't explain why they had 2lbs of weed though. I mean, the other amounts they were busted with were minute compared to the amount of weed they were holding.
@Ahhh i effed up These were sales to undercover cops, my bad. No need to come up with a comeback!
@daaaamn BUSINESS SCHOOL!
Ever been inside Uris?