Two Marshall University students are facing drug charges after four pounds of marijuana were shipped to their home, the former Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house.
Andrew Gifford, 23, and Eric Nguyen, 19, were arrested shortly after the package was delivered to the fraternity house on the 1400 block of 5th Avenue in Huntington, West Virginia.
According to criminal complaints from the Cabell County Magistrate Court, Gifford, who signed for the package using the false identity ‘Taylor Smidt,’ is accused of then taking the package to an upstairs bedroom before police executed a search warrant on the house.
Via Herald-Dispatch:
Police found high-grade marijuana, digital scales and several thousand dollars among Nguyen’s bedroom, the room in which Gifford was found, and among Gifford’s personal items. The search led police to then raid Gifford’s apartment in the 1300 block of 5th Avenue, finding more than 12 grams of marijuana in baggies and glass jars.
Police concluded Nguyen and Gifford had been stashing and selling marijuana from both locations, complaints state.
Both claimed to be Marshall University students when arraigned before Cabell County Magistrate Judge Dan Goheen, though the university has not confirmed. If so, the two may face university sanctions in addition to criminal charges, according to a university release.
Nguyen faces charges of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, while Gifford is charged with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute and conspiracy.
Both are being held at Western Regional Jail, with Nguyen’s bond being set at $100,000 and Gifford’s bond at $125,000.
Pi Kappa Phi is no longer recognized by the university. Fraternity members voted this past April to surrender its charter to the national body. The house, which is not owned by Marshall University, will be shut down because of numerous safety issues and code violations.
