Another Member of “Main Line Takeover Project” Admits Guilt

A member of the alleged preppie drug ring that made headlines last spring has pleaded to misdemeanor charges in the case, the Delco Daily Times reports. John Cole Rosemann, 21, of Weston, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of receipt in commerce of marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia while he was a student at Lafayette College.

“Cole Roseman (sic) was a small fish in a big pond at Lafayette but he had been a big fish in a small pond in high school as a star basketball player and a very bright kid who kind of lost his way at Lafayette. At Lafayette, he didn’t play basketball, he didn’t have that identity anymore, and when he found a cheap source of marijuana, suddenly he was a big shot and I think, in a short period of time, got lost for a while,” defense lawyer Steven Fairlie said on Roseman’s behalf.

“But he’s straightened himself out and he’s doing really well now and it’s our hope the judge is going to look at it and see that’s the type of kid he is and give him probation,” Fairlie added. “Although he’s made a big mistake, he’s a really good kid and there’s a lot going for him.”

For Rosemann, at least, the outcome was pretty much what Fairlie predicted for him in a Philadelphia magazine story about the alleged drug ring over the summer.

Sensing an opportunity, several defense lawyers may try to spin their clients’ incompetence into lighter sentences. Attorney Steven Fairlie says of his client John Cole Rosemann’s swift cooperation with police: “That’s what a good law-abiding kid does when he gets caught.” (Fairlie admits Rosemann did not abide by the law.) Greg Pagano, Brooks’s lawyer, is doing his best to belittle his client’s Walter White delusions: “He was involved in the conspiracy for a relatively short period of time,” Pagano said in a written statement. “He possessed no weapons.” (edited)

A judge deferred sentencing for Rosemann. Four other alleged “subdealers” have already pleaded to charges and agreed to testify against alleged ringleaders of the outfit, Neil Scott of Paoli and Timothy Brooks of Villanova. Action on the cases involving Scott and Brooks was postponed Monday.