Could there be a connection...
Former CU Student Arrested for Selling Anabolic Steroids
by MEGAN GREENWELL
Spectator Associate News Editor
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/09/05/3f584799c07d5
A former Columbia student used his University e-mail address to sell steroids and other drugs, papers filed by a federal drug prosecutor allege.
Brian Raupp, 26, was formally charged on Aug. 21 in Manhattan federal court on accusations that he sold anabolic steroids and the club drug ketamine to customers as far away as Florida. Raupp allegedly conducted his business over e-mail using several different personal accounts--including that provided by the University--beginning when he took classes at Columbia during fall 2002 and continuing through last May. Prosecutors said that Raupp instructed customers to send money to an address at the Mailboxes Etc. store at 2840 Broadway.
A staff member at Mailboxes Etc. said only that Raupp does not currently have a post office box at the store and that the company does not keep record of former customers.
In an e-mail to the staff of Columbia's The Blue and White publication that included a forwarded copy of an Associated Press story about his case, Raupp denied the charges. "I'm innocent," read the e-mail, which came from a valid University e-mail address on Aug. 23. E-mails sent to that address on Aug. 31 bounced back with a message that the address was not functioning.
Ketamine, an anesthetic used legally in dentistry and veterinary medicine, is on the rise as a club drug popular with young people at raves and parties, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Raupp--along with a team of alleged conspirators--is accused of importing the drug, which comes in liquid, powder, or tablet form, from Mexico at a rate of thousands of vials a week. One alleged co-conspirator in the drug ring is another former Columbia student, 23-year-old David Pruitt, who was a fraternity brother of Raupp's while at Columbia, according to the court report.
If convicted, Raupp could face up to 20 years in prison and two million dollars in fines.