Three UB students who were arrested in the fall for criminal possession of marijuana, criminal possession of a controlled substance and use of drug paraphernalia have been were dismissed of all charges, according to Buffalo City Court officials.
On Sept. 25, students Andrew Pawluk, Mark Harding and Ruben Abramov, along with non-UB students Anthony Argiros, Brennon Hall, Joseph Mruk and Jonathan Ho, were arrested after Buffalo Police seized $64,000 in cash, 9 pounds of marijuana, 8 ounces of ecstasy and a half-ounce of cocaine from 51 W. Northrup Place.
The charges against Pawluk, Harding, Abramov, Ho and Hall were dropped.
Pawluk, who graduated in May with a media study degree, said the arrest was a matter of being in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
"It's a little disheartening to hear from the district attorney of Buffalo that the Buffalo Police shouldn't have arrested you but you still have to pay," Pawluk said.
Mruk, 26, of West Seneca, and Argiros, 22, of Hancock, were the only ones who pleaded guilty following the drug deal at 51 W. Northrup Place. Mruk and Argiros pleaded guilty to criminal possession of marijuana and were recently sentenced to probation, as reported in The Buffalo News.
The group was arrested in September after two BPD officers issued a parking ticket in front of the University Heights home for an illegally parked vehicle. The officers saw drugs and money through an open door. They then obtained a search warrant and arrested the individuals.
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