Senior Marcus Mattingly, age 23, was arraigned in connection with drug trafficking yesterday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office.
Mattingly was pulled over by Massachusetts State Troopers on Route 16 in Medford on Tuesday, April 12 for driving an unregistered motor vehicle, at which time State Troopers discovered 200 grams of cocaine, a significant amount of cash and other drug paraphernalia in the car Mattingly was driving.
State Troopers subsequently placed Mattingly under arrest and transferred him to the Medford State Police barracks where he was booked and held overnight.
After securing a search warrant for Mattingly's residence, State Police contacted the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) at approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday and asked for assistance in securing Mattingly's room at the Delta Upsilon (DU) fraternity, according to TUPD Captain Mark Keith.
Police discovered an additional 80 grams of cocaine as well as more cash and drug paraphernalia in Mattingly's campus residence.
The street value of the 280 grams of recovered cocaine is estimated at $25,000, according to a press release from the Middlesex District Attorney's office.
In addition to trafficking cocaine over 200 grams, Mattingly was charged with driving an unregistered motor vehicle, a school zone violation and possession of a Class D substance. According to national drug classifications, Class D substances can include marijuana and barbituates.
Mattingly was arraigned before Judge Allen Jarasitis of the Somerville District Court yesterday. Mattingly entered a plea of not guilty and was held on $10,000 cash bail.
Mattingly is due back in court on May 11 for a pre-trial conference.
The Massachusetts penalty for trafficking more than 200 grams of cocaine is 15-20 years in a state prison.
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said that Mattingly is not back on campus.
"It is my understanding that he is incarcerated," Reitman said. "I do not know what the future holds for him, but the University will cooperate with state officials on this matter."
DU fraternity president Brian Howe expressed his condolences. "We all like Marcus, he's a good kid," Howe said. "It's very unfortunate what he supposedly got in to."
Howe said authorities are not investigating the fraternity as a whole. "This is not a DU problem, it's Marcus's problem. The authorities have not gotten us involved, nor do they intend to."
According to Howe, Mattingly has been evicted from the DU house and expelled from the fraternity.
- Bruce Hamilton and Marc Raifman contributed to this article
