SDSU Students Face Judge

Authorities have identified two students as major players in a drug ring operating at SDSU. They are Kenneth Ciaccio, 19, and Thomas Watanapun, 21. They were both arraigned and pleaded not guilty to drug charges in Superior Court Thursday. Kenneth Ciaccio was “a major source of supply on campus” and Thomas Watanapun was “a major source of anything” including cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy tablets, Deputy District Attorney Shawn Tafreshi told Judge David M. Szumowski.

Kenneth Ciaccio

Kenneth Ciaccio, 19, bragged to undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents in early April that he could get them over a quarter-pound of cocaine after selling them smaller quantities in two separate transactions, Tafreshi said.

Ciaccio sent a text message to agents suggesting they buy drugs soon because he and his associates were taking a trip to Las Vegas, the prosecutor said. The message listed the prices for drugs. On his return from Las Vegas, he sent agents another text message saying “I’m back in town and I hope to hear from you soon. I’m going to hook you guys up.”

Ciaccio’s lawyer, Michael Messina, said outside the courtroom that Ciaccio has wrongly been characterized as “a kingpin” in the SDSU drug deals.

“My client is not a major player in this particular enterprise,” Messina said. “He comes from a good home, a good family … unfortunately he appears to have made some mistakes.”

The judge ordered Ciaccio held in jail in lieu of $150,000 bail. If convicted, Ciaccio faces more than 6 years in prison.

Thomas Watanapun

Watanapun, 21, provided a half-ounce of cocaine which another student – who was arrested as part of the SDSU drug ring – sold to agents, Tafreshi told the judge. He was also accused of dealing other drugs including Ecstasy, from a university parking lot across the street from Fraternity Row. He made no effort to conceal the cash he made from dealing, driving directly from one deal to a bank to deposit $400. Agents also found drugs in Watanapun’s room, the prosecutor said.

Watanapun’s lawyer, Nathan Aguilar, told the judge that Watanapun was “an exemplary student” with a grade point average above 3.0. He said Watanapun was a victim of “peer pressure and poor judgment.”

The judge ordered Watanapun held on $25,000 bail. If convicted Watanapun faces more than 5 years behind bars.

Other Accused Students

Jarrod Skippon and Joshua Matsuda both 19 were roommates. Skippon went to the university last semester and is not enrolled in the school right now. Matsuda is a freshman at Grossmont College. Prosecutors said that drugs were found in their College-area apartment. Both men pleaded not guilty to drug charges and the judge set their bail at $10,000 each.

Terrance Blackman, 19, an SDSU student, allegedly sold marijuana to a DEA agent on campus.

Aaron Heffernan,19, is accused of selling Ecstasy pills while on campus. Investigators said he was found with 300 pills and marijuana in his campus room.

Samuel Welsh, 18, allegedly sold drugs to undercover agents, telling them it was top-quality cocaine.

Nicolas Delacruz, 22, allegedly set up a meeting outside Cox Arena to make a cocaine deal. “[Delacruz] entered the DEA agents’ vehicle, he tasted the cocaine himself prior to giving it to the agents, and they consummated the sale,” said prosecutor Shawn Tafreshi.

Also arraigned were: Cory Barclay, 18; Chad Frazier, 22; James Dennis Schurr III, 21; Clynton Parsons, 20; and Thomas George Brindley, 20, Chaz Lomack, 22 and Tarek El Hadidi, 21.

They also entered not-guilty pleas and bail was set for each anywhere from $10,000 to $35,000.

Patrick Hawley, 20, was also arraigned. He was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and selling cocaine near the campus, officials said. Hawley, who was an SDSU student at some point during the investigation, sold one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine for $120 to an undercover DEA agent. He often bragged of taking over the drug selling business from another seller, Tafreshi said. Hawley’s bail was set at $75,000.

Gang Involvement

Omar Castaneda, a 36-year-old Pomona gang member with close ties to some of the Mexican Tijuana drug cartels was also arrested in connection with the SDSU drug bust. Castaneda, who is believed to have been a lead supplier in the drug trafficking, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment. His bail was set at $150,000 in connection with the drug charges and his immigration status is also being checked.

“Castaneda was one of the main sources of supply for some of the dealers on the campus,” said Damon Mosler, narcotics division chief for the District Attorney.

The violent Tijuana drug cartel also known as the Arellano-Felix organization (AFO) has a firm and deadly hold on all drug trafficking activities in Baja and San Diego California. Their reach controls drug smuggling in Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan, Chiapas and Baja, and has strong links to San Diego, California. The AFO dispenses an estimated $1 million weekly in bribes to Mexican officials, police and Mexican army officers and maintains its own-well armed, trained, paramilitary security force.

The DEA considers the AFO the most violent and aggressive of the Mexican border cartels. Here is the DEA‘s background profile on the AFO and its leaders.

SDSU Students Arrested on Drug Charges

75 Students of San Diego State University were among the 96 people arrested on various drug offenses in a year-long investigation by the DEA in cooperation with the university’s administration. 18 of the arrests were made on campus on May 6, 2008. Many of the arrested were members of fraternities. It was one of the largest college raids ever conducted.

During the operation authorities seized: 4 pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of marijuana, 48 marijuana plants and 350 ecstasy pills, psilocybin (mushrooms), 30 vials of hash oil, methamphetamines, various illicit prescription drugs. Police also confiscated one shotgun, three semi-automatic pistols, three sets of brass knuckles and $60,000.

Theta Chi and five other fraternities (Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Mu) have been suspended pending a hearing on evidence gathered during the investigation, dubbed Operation Sudden Fall. Authorities singled out the Theta Chi fraternity as a hub of cocaine dealing.

A member of Theta Chi, Kenneth Ciaccio, sent out a mass text message to his “faithful customers” stating that he and his “associates” would be unable to sell cocaine while they were in Las Vegas for a fraternity formal, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The text promoted a cocaine “sale” and listed the reduced prices on bulk quantities. Until his arrest, Ciaccio was featured on SDSU’s Web site promoting the Compact for Success program, which guarantees certain Sweetwater Union High School District students admission to the university if they maintain a B average. Leaders at the Theta Chi national office in Indiana said they have barred the San Diego chapter from hosting any events.

“This is not indicative of what Theta Chi is about,” executive director Dale Taylor said in a phone interview.

Raids began as early as 6 a.m. several witnesses said. Greg Muender, president of Phi Kappa Psi, said police showed up to scour two of the fraternity’s apartment. “They searched pretty rigorously for probably two hours with dogs,” Muender said. “Quite honestly, they trashed the apartments pretty good. Everything was turned over. Everything’s on the bed.”

One suspect, Phi Kappa Psi member Michael Montoya, worked as a community-service officer on campus and would have earned a master’s degree in homeland security next month. Another student arrested on suspicion of possessing 500 grams of cocaine and two guns was a criminal-justice major.

“A sad commentary is that when one of these individuals (Michael Montoya) was arrested, they inquired as (to) whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on him becoming a federal law enforcement officer,” said Ralph Partridge, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego.

News of the mass arrests didn’t make it to one Los Angeles mother, whose son’s name appeared on list of arrestees that was released by law enforcement officials. “Oh, my, my,” said Wong Watanapun, whose son Thomas Watanapun was among those charged. “I don’t know anything.” According to the search-warrant affidavit, Thomas Watanapun sold $400 worth of cocaine to undercover agents from a Lexus sedan registered to his father in Los Angeles.

Patrick Hawley, 20, who was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and selling cocaine near the campus, was arraigned in San Diego Superior Court along with Omar Castaneda, a gang member from Pomona with ties to some Mexican drug cartels. Castaneda, 36, was arraigned on charges of possession of cocaine for sale. He is suspected of being a major link between drugs flowing into California from Tijuana and sales at SDSU.

Campus police started the probe a year ago after the cocaine overdose death of a freshman sorority member, Jenny Poliakoff, but they soon called in federal agents to provide fresh faces on campus and supply the money needed to make drug buys. The invitation to federal authorities was unusual because it involved an open-ended investigation that didn’t involve a violent crime. “In general, universities are pretty jealous of their prerogatives and are uneasy about welcoming outside authorities onto campus,” said Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University,a former student radical and a leading authority on the ’60s counterculture. “There’s a real reluctance at universities to call on outside police.” While the investigation was under way, a student named Kurt Baker, 22, from nearby Mesa College, was found dead of a cocaine overdose in February in the Sigma Pi fraternity house at San Diego State.

University President Stephen Weber defended the decision to bring federal authorities onto campus.

“Some have asked what we think this publicity has done for SDSU’s reputation. I have told them I am proud of the action taken by SDSU to proactively address this serious threat to our students,” Weber said in a statement Wednesday. “As a parent I would want my son or daughter to attend a university committed to providing the safest possible environment.”

SDSU placed an informational page on its website to address any questions that may come up resulting from the arrests announced. Stephen Weber also said: “SDSU will continue to do what is necessary, through both enforcement and education, to encourage our students to make the responsible choices to ensure the health and safety of our campus community.”