The arrest of a Tufts student earlier this month for cocaine trafficking has left his future hanging as administrators and students grapple with the implications of a cocaine culture abruptly brought into the spotlight.
On Tuesday, April 12, senior Marcus Mattingly, 23, was pulled over by Massachusetts State Troopers on Route 16 in Medford for driving an unregistered motor vehicle. At this time, State Troopers discovered 200 grams of cocaine, a significant amount of cash and drug paraphernalia in the car Mattingly was driving.
After obtaining a search warrant, the police discovered an additional 80 grams of cocaine as well as more cash and drug paraphernalia in Mattingly's campus residence, the Delta Upsilon (DU) fraternity house on Professor's Row. According to a press release from the Middlesex County District Attorney's office, the 280 grams of confiscated cocaine was valued in excess of $25,000.
Mattingly was arraigned in connection with drug trafficking before Judge Allen Jarasitis of the Somerville District Court on April 13. He entered a plea of not guilty and was held on $10,000 cash bail.
Mattingly posted bail and attended a pre-trial conference on May 11. A second pre-trial is now scheduled for June 8, at which time a court date may be set.
According to Dean of Students Bruce Reitman, no disciplinary action will occur through the Dean of Students Office because the investigation was conducted by the State Police.
"This is something that the state and federal government have defined laws about, [it] wasn't campus policy that really came into play," he said.
Because any court proceedings will not happen until after the conclusion of this semester, Reitman said that Mattingly's status at the University is pending and awaiting the outcome of the proceedings. "[Should a] felony conviction be made of campus, that individual is not eligible to be [on campus]," Reitman said.
Due to his pending status with the University, Reitman said Mattingly "is not eligible to receive a degree at this time."
If convicted, Mattingly faces a minimum of 16 and maximum of 20 years of jail time.
According to arresting officer Richard Iwanicki, Mattingly was pulled over for a motor vehicle violation. But Iwanicki was unable to comment on how police found the cocaine in the car following the stop.
To Iwanicki's eye, "the likelihood of a conviction looks pretty good."
Iwanicki said drug trafficking violations are "pretty common," though "[not to the extent] of what [Mattingly] had on him." Iwanicki said that most drug trafficking takes place "more towards the city area."
According to Thomas J. Barrett, an attorney who practices criminal defense law in Salem, Mass., it is "not a given that [a defendant in a case like Mattingly's] will be convicted."
According to Barrett, "there's a whole line of defenses he has, that everyone has."
A defense lawyer, Barrett said, would first "want to explore whether the police acted permissibly in obtaining the drugs and whether they violated his constitutional rights, which includes freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures."
Other factors must be considered in a conviction, Barrett said, "whether or not he did possess the drugs, whether he stored them with the intent to sell, or strictly for personal use."
"These aren't necessarily just technicalities, it's very fundamental stuff," Barrett said. "He has a defense."
Barrett did say, however, that drug trafficking cases of this magnitude are relatively rare.
A high-level drug trafficking case, Barrett said, is one of the most severe cases of drug distribution and drug possession, carrying a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years. According to Barrett, such a conviction "implies that the person is a drug dealer on a pretty large scale."
Although cocaine was seized in the DU fraternity house, DU president sophomore Brian Rowe confirmed that the fraternity was not associated with the arrest and would not suffer disciplinary consequences. "[The administration understands that] it's his problem, not ours," Rowe said. "From the standpoint of the fraternity it was definitely fair because we haven't felt any backlash at all."
According to Rowe, Mattingly has been evicted from his room and expelled from the fraternity.
"[Mattingly is] a good guy, and very friendly, but he likes to keep to himself a lot," Rowe said. "Between work and class it was hard to get to know him really well."
Rowe said that Mattingly, as a brother, "didn't spend a lot of the time in the house" and his first floor room was relatively secluded.
"The difficult part is the [resulting discussion among] students on campus," Rowe said. "They say that he was selling to everyone in the house and that is completely untrue."
Mattingly's arrest does not necessarily imply a surge in cocaine use at Tufts, but rather represents a rare window into an enduring drug culture that has remained, for the most part, hidden.
This fall, Tufts conducted a survey assessing alcohol and drug use within its population. According to Margot Abels, Director of Drug and Alcohol Prevention services, 8.6 percent of Tufts students reported having ever used cocaine.
"Eight-point-six is low compared to most campuses," Reitman said. "I suppose to the extent that it's good news, it's a good thing."
Tufts also ranks behind national averages of cocaine use. Fifteen percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 have used cocaine in their lifetime, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 2003 National Study on Drug Use and Health, shifting trends in cocaine usage may reflect changing preferences or availability of other drugs, she said, such as ecstasy or hallucinogens, or increased binge drinking.
"Since the mid-'80s there has been a decrease, generally, in cocaine use," Abels said.
While cocaine usage did not top the list of drug policy priorities, Abels said that "judicial responses, services such as counseling and treatment, prevention, education, family support and social marketing for environmental change" could help cope with solving drug problems.
Reitman said it was unlikely that the arrest would result in any change in current campus drug policy, since the investigation occurred under the jurisdiction of the state police.
Yet one student questioned whether any preventive drug policy at Tufts could be effective. "What Tufts policy makers and police don't realize is that the kids who want to be using drugs will find them."
A further crackdown, the student said, would only yield additional backlash. "I'm concerned that this drug bust and several other incidents of increased police activity could have a negative effect on night life and continue to generate bad publicity," he said.
Student views on cocaine use - particularly from users - were difficult to solicit due to the sensitive nature of the topic, but those students who agreed to speak anonymously shed some light on the cocaine culture on campus.
Interviews were conducted both with students who had used cocaine and with close acquaintances of such students.
According to interviewees, the cocaine culture appears to lack much of the social nature of widespread alcohol use. One student said he would "not openly" discuss his cocaine use. "The stigma is too great," he said.
"It's definitely under wraps unless for some reason you see it," another student said. "That's one of the biggest things, to keep it under wraps."
Students interviewed confirmed that cocaine use rarely occurred on its own but as an addition to the pre-existing party culture of alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.
"It's definitely not just cocaine, it's really everything," one student said.
Interviews confirmed that Mattingly appeared to be a popular source for cocaine for the Tufts campus.
In spite of potential legal and health problems, these students did not necessarily view their cocaine use as problematic.
One periodic user would "probably do it again," he said. "If you can be smart about using it, taking care so that in doesn't become an addiction, I don't think it is as bad of a drug as everyone makes it out to be."
One student said that to some, an intense party culture marked by cocaine use was a boon to certain fun-seeking students. "I think many kids feel some sort of pride that a drug dealer of that magnitude operated at Tufts," the student said. "And this drug bust has improved their opinion of Tufts' 'coolness.'"
