Lars Zeepvat has waived his formal arraignment, indicated he intends to plead not guilty, and requested a jury trial, according to a new Centre County court filing from August 20.

Zeepvat — one of the 13 former or current Penn State students charged in connection with an alleged cocaine trafficking operation centered around two off-campus fraternity houses — is facing four felony charges, including corrupt organizations, conspiracy to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, and criminal use of a communication facility.

He also faces two misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

The former Sigma Chi member was scheduled for formal arraignment on September 9, but his filed waiver of arraignment, indicating that he intends to plead not guilty, means he will not have to appear for the proceeding.

Zeepvat also waived his preliminary hearing on August 17, allowing all six charges against him to move to the Centre County Court of Common Pleas.

Zeepvat’s lawyer, according to the Center County Court of Common Pleas docket, Brian Perry, declined to comment on the matter until Zeepvat’s pending case is resolved.

According to the grand jury presentment, Zeepvat was a close friend of the alleged ringleader of the drug trafficking ring, Agostino Abbatiello, and allegedly helped him obtain and distribute cocaine.

The presentment said Zeepvat was a cocaine user before starting at Penn State and had a source for the drug in Philadelphia, which he used to get cocaine for himself and some of his fraternity brothers, including Abbatiello.

Zeepvat and Abbatiello would purchase between 3.5 and 7 ounces of cocaine from their Philadelphia source, but after a while, the source stopped responding, forcing the two former Penn State students to find a new source in New York.

According to the presentment, the pair began using the New York source as Abbatiello started purchasing larger quantities of cocaine to sell for profit.

Zeepvat recalled Abbatiello asking him if he wanted to make money and help him distribute cocaine around State College. Zeepvat said he made three trips to New York to replenish Abbatiello’s supply of cocaine for between $500 and $1,000 each time.

After Abbatiello graduated from Penn State in spring 2024, the grand jury presentment alleges that he made a trip midway between State College and New York to give Zeepvat and Andrew Acker between 300 and 500 grams of cocaine to keep distributing around State College.

No pretrial conference or trial date has been scheduled as of the time of publication on Friday, according to court records.

Elsewhere in the case, two other defendants, Michael Brongo Jr. and Charles Weisman, were released from custody on Friday following court hearings in Maryland on Thursday.

Both face only misdemeanor charges.