MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A third Columbia University student pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection to a campus and fraternity house-based drug ring dismantled by authorities after an undercover operation in 2010.
Jose Stephan Perez, 21, arrested while wearing a Columbia sweatshirt on Dec. 7, 2010, has agreed to serve 300 hours of community service at the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, along with his plea to fifth-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance.
After one year, if he completes the community service and does not get re-arrested, he will be allowed to withdraw the felony drug sale plea in exchange for a misdemeanor. The change would reduce the scar on his record.
Perez's attorney, Peter Frankel, said the junior, who is currently suspended by the university, has been volunteering at a school in the Bahamas where his parents live and has spoken to high school students about the dangers of drugs.
Perez hopes to impress the school with his progress and get reinstated after the completion of the service. The school has yet to determine whether they'll take him back, Frankel said.
"They are going to do their own investigation and come up with their own resolution," the lawyer added.
Students Harrison David and Michael Wymbs have also pleaded guilty. The group of five students had been charged with selling LSD, Adderall, marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy.
Christopher Coles, another one of the five students arrested as part of last year's "Operation Ivy League", was in court on Tuesday where he was ordered held without bail because he failed a recent drug test.
Coles was approved for a one year inpatient drug treatment for his marijuana addiction instead of jail or probation as part of a drug court resolution and is due back in court on Thursday.
