UNC student arrested in Wilmington on charges of cocaine, marijuana possession

A UNC student was arrested Friday in Wilmington on several drug-related charges, including the possession and sale of cocaine.

Dan Paustian, 21, a junior and member of the UNC chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, was being held in lieu of a $300,000 bond as of Sunday afternoon, according to officials at the New Hanover County Detention Facility.

Paustian, of Charlotte, was charged with felony possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver; possession of marijuana; the manufacture, sale or delivery of Schedule II drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies.

Paustian was arrested Friday night at 1054 South College Road, the address of Katy’s Great Eats.

The amount of cocaine and the circumstances of Paustian’s arrest were not available at press time.

Kappa Sigma President Chad Gentry said Paustian was in Wilmington with a friend from Charlotte who is not a UNC student.

“We really hate it for him,” Gentry said. “Dan has obviously made some bad decisions.”

Gentry added that he was not aware of any drug use by Paustian and added that Paustian has traditionally had one of the highest grade point averages in the fraternity.

No one in the fraternity had talked to Paustian as of Sunday afternoon, Gentry said.

Paustian was arrested in 2008 and charged with affray and resisting arrest, according to a 2008 online Chapel Hill News police blotter. He was fighting in the parking lot of Granville Towers and ran from police, reports state.

Tucker Piner, president of the Interfraternity Council, said the incident would bring negative attention to the University’s Greek system.

“I realize this brings negative light but this is an individual thing with one person,” he said. “This is not a reflection of the fraternity system and what it has done.”

Last year, seven then-current or former students, some of whom were members of the Chi Omega sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, were arrested on various cocaine-related charges. Two of those individuals were held on a $15,000 bond — one-twentieth of Paustian’s bond amount.

The charges, combined with the death of Courtland Smith, the president of the UNC chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, led to a review of the University’s relationship with the Greek system.

Piner said Paustian’s arrest was not representative of a problem within the Greek system.

“I don’t think it’s very indicative of our culture here,” he said.

UNC

Senior Writers C. Ryan Barber and Melvin Backman contributed reporting.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.