A directed investigation by the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) targeting alleged student drug dealers appears to have laid the foundation for the expulsion cases brought over the last few weeks against three Sigma Nu brothers and a fourth unnamed student.
According to interviews with some of the accused students, TUPD officers approached the suspects at various times and convinced at least one to sign a statement admitting his involvement in distributing drugs, even though he was never caught in possession of any.
TUPD Sgt. Joseph Tilton, who was involved in investigating the students, confirmed that their cases were part of an "ongoing investigation," but declined to provide any further details.
Of the three SigNu brothers, only sophomore Adam Koltun lived in the fraternity's house, where TUPD and Somerville police officers confronted him on Sept. 23 and requested to search his room. After he gave the officers permission to enter, they found small amounts of cocaine, marijuana and some "dealing paraphernalia," Koltun said.
The two other brothers, juniors Andrew O'Hara and Jacob McNutt, were not residents of the SigNu house and face expulsion despite not having been found in possession of any drugs, according to a member of SigNu's executive board who requested anonymity.
None of the students were arrested, but were instead brought to the TUPD office for interrogation.
The board member said that the fourth student is not a member of SigNu.
O'Hara and Koltun have withdrawn from Tufts in order to avoid going through the judicial process of expulsion, while McNutt is appealing the charges against him.
McNutt said that TUPD approached him on Sept. 25 outside of a class and brought him to the station for questioning. He was not carrying any illegal substances but, at the urging of TUPD, he signed a statement in which he "admitted to helping out my very close friends with small bags of marijuana," he said.
"They showed me a folder, acted like they had evidence, but never actually showed me the evidence. They told me if I didn't cooperate, I would have to deal with Somerville police, and they were trying to keep this within the school," he said.
McNutt said that the following Tuesday, he met with Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter, who informed him that by signing the statement he had affirmed his intent to distribute, which constitutes grounds for expulsion under the alcohol and drugs bylaws in the Pachyderm, Tufts' student handbook.
McNutt said he has chosen to remain at school and potentially fight the charges, given what he sees as a paucity of evidence against him.
"I was found with nothing and fully cooperated with the police, so I had hoped there would be some consideration of that," he said.
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that providing specifics about the students, including the identity of the fourth student, would constitute a breach of their privacy that the Office of Student Affairs would "never" carry out.
Reitman said that he will remain unable to provide specifics on the matter until all four of the expulsion cases, at least one of which is still pending, have concluded.
"This is all part of one investigation, so even though there's more than one student involved, it's all part of the same case," he said.
Reitman said that TUPD had approached his office and Judicial Affairs alleging the accused students' involvement in the distribution of illegal drugs. The charge of intent to distribute is a weighty one that carries more severe consequences than lesser drug charges, Reitman said.
"It's not the first time that there have been students who have been accused by the police, either the Tufts police or off-campus police, for distribution of drugs," he said. "It's not unusual for students to be accused of possession. It's more infrequent for accusations of distribution."
The SigNu executive board member said the charges against the brothers add to a recent string of events — including the discovery of a keg and of marijuana in the house in separate incidents last semester — that have attracted the attention of the fraternity's national organization.
"[Nationals] consider us a high-risk chapter right now, so they've moved in to correct it," he said, noting increased oversight on activities such as recruitment and a semester-long ban on parties at the SigNu house.
But the board member said that the Tufts administration and the national organization have decided to categorize the late-September busts as external from the fraternity.
"Tufts and Nationals will understand because they recognize we're trying to step up and improve," he said. "This came as a huge surprise."
Reitman cautioned against conflating individual transgressions with the actions of an organization to which those individuals might belong.
"If somebody's a member of the chess club, but the chess club isn't involved necessarily in whatever it is the individual is accused of, we wouldn't give that information because it's not fair to the organization," Reitman said. "I don't know at this point whether there's any reason to think this is more than individual behavior."
Although these incidents may reflect poorly on Tufts' SigNu chapter, the fraternity should be able to move on, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Patrick Romero-Aldaz said in an e-mail.
"I have full faith that with the assistance of the national headquarters and their alumni volunteers, Sigma Nu will handle these proceedings as required by their policy and address this situation swiftly," he said.
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Correction
Yesterday's article "SigNu brothers caught with drugs; two withdraw" contained factual inaccuracies. Not all of the brothers were found in possession of narcotics. According to the Daily's most -recent information, one was caught with marijuana and cocaine. Additionally, the brothers were not arrested. They did meet with Tufts University Police Department officers who were investigating the case. The Daily will continue to investigate this story and work to bring our readers the latest, most up-to-date information.
