Timothy Brooks, left, and Neil Scott were identified as the leaders of a
drug ring authorities say supplied marijuana and cocaine to three
colleges and a number of high schools in Philadelphia's affluent Main
Line suburbs. The suspects are both graduates of The Haverford School.
Two prep school graduates sought to
use their sports connections and business acumen to establish a monopoly
on drug sales to high school students in the affluent Main Line suburbs
of Philadelphia, authorities said Monday.
Neil
Scott, 25, and Timothy Brooks, 18, recruited and supplied dealers with
marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and hash oil to sell to teens at five high
schools in the tony bedroom communities, authorities said.
A four-month
investigation revealed the pair also hired students at Haverford,
Gettysburg and Lafayette colleges to peddle drugs at those Pennsylvania
schools, authorities said.
Scott
and Brooks are graduates of The Haverford School, a $35,000-a-year
private institution where both played lacrosse. They tapped their sports
and social networks to help further their enterprise, officials said.
"They
were using very traditional business principles," Montgomery County
District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. "To take those skills and turn
it into this kind of illegal enterprise is very distressing."
Scott, Brooks and several others arrested in the alleged ring were arraigned Monday on drug charges and related counts.
Scott's lawyer declined to comment, saying he hadn't yet reviewed the case.
Brooks'
attorney, Greg Pagano, described his client as vulnerable and a bit
depressed after leaving the University of Richmond last year due to an
unnamed injury. Brooks lives at his family's home in Villanova.
"He, regrettably, lost his way," Pagano said. "His parents are devastated."
Scott, of Haverford,
began selling pot after he moved back to the area last fall from San
Diego, where he worked at a medical marijuana dispensary, officials
said.
Scott told police that he
needed money and figured he could make it by selling better marijuana
than what was currently available in the area. He told police that an
unspecified California connection could supply him with high-quality
pot, which "would sell very well on the Main Line because everyone
between 15 and 55 loves good weed," an investigator wrote in the
affidavit.
Scott began having the drug mailed
to Pennsylvania in late 2013 and called his operation the "Main Line
Take Over Project," authorities said. Officials began an investigation
in January based on a tip and eventually executed search warrants at
nine locations.
In all, they
reported seizing eight pounds of pot, more than $11,000, a loaded
assault weapon, two other guns and equipment to manufacture hash oil.
Scott has been in custody since February, held on $1 million bail.
Authorities
didn't calculate the total value of the operation, but Scott told
police he was making about $1,000 per week on marijuana alone, the
affidavit said.
Ferman said the
investigation continues. So far, eight suspects have been arrested, and
authorities say at least three more are involved.
One
suspect, a current student at The Haverford School, has been suspended
indefinitely, said headmaster John Nagl. He said the alleged involvement
of the student and two alums is "hugely disappointing."
"Those
choices reflect badly on the values the school stands for," Nagl said.
"They let down themselves and their families, who've made huge
sacrifices to send them to this school."
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