Drug-related charges against junior Ryan Packer were dropped Friday due to insufficient evidence, University administrators confirmed Sunday.
Packer was arrested and released on $5,000 bail April 3 for drug trafficking and the attempted sale and distribution of marijuana.
The charges came after 17 pounds of the substance were delivered via DHL shipping company to his campus address in Craven Quadrangle.
A second student was also detained under similar circumstances, but charges were not filed in that case.
Packer does not currently face disciplinary consequences by the University related to the incident, said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. Packer was suspended immediately following the incident.
Although she could not comment on the specifics of the case, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said the University typically does not take further disciplinary steps against students when law enforcement officials say there is not enough evidence to do so.
"Generally speaking, if charges have been dropped, and we have no evidence to proceed, then there would be no University action taken," Wasiolek said.
Packer declined to comment when contacted by The Chronicle Sunday, but students close to him consistently have maintained that Packer had been wrongfully accused.
"From the beginning, we said that we were going to stand by him 100 percent, and we had complete confidence of the fact that he was innocent of all of the charges that were brought against him," said junior Rob DeHaas, president of Packer's fraternity. "In lieu of the Duke lacrosse incident, I would just say that this should remind us again that we should wait to make judgments on any situation until we know all the facts about any case."
Junior Dan Neville, a member of the same fraternity, said Packer's family has worked closely with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to clear his name. SBI officials could not be reached for comment Sunday.
"He had absolutely no connection with this at all," Neville said, adding that Packer will be returning to campus today.
Packer had his first appearance in Durham District Court April 4 and was previously scheduled to reappear at a June 7 trial.
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