Northeastern Student Charged with Bulk Sales of MDA, Threatening Informant

A Northeastern University student faces charges for allegedly selling a large batch of psychedelic drug MDA and threatening a government informant, according to court records.

Dennis Szymanski drove from Boston to Philadelphia on April 20 with two kilograms of MDA he planned to sell for $36,000, authorities said. But he had set up the deal with a source cooperating with federal investigators, and when he arrived at a South Philadelphia Best Buy parking lot to make the trade Szymanski was arrested by Immigrations and Customs Exchange agents, according to an ICE affidavit.

Szymanski is listed on the website for Northeastern’s Barnett Institute of Chemical and Biological Analysis as a Ph. D student. A Homeland Security affidavit confirmed Szymanski as a student at Northeastern, but did not specify what field.

Using $10,000 in government funds, the informant made the swap with federal agents listening in. Szymanski was arrested, waived his miranda rights and admitted to making the drug deal, according to an affidavit written by ICE agent Jeffery Kuc. He was charged with distributing a controlled substance.

Szymanski was released on bail as the case awaited review by a grand jury. But he got back into trouble when the man who set up his arrest received a threatening email from “ratexterminator105@yahoo.com” on June 30, according to a federal court filing.

Written in all caps, part of the email said, “You think you got away with something? You did not. Capital punishment is the biggest deterrent. Good thing we have plenty of rat poison. You have (effed) up big time now your family will be involved.”

The informant’s girlfriend also received a threatening message on Facebook, part of which said: “This will last for 20 years until both of you pay, you will both pay dearly for this. REMEMBER THIS YOU WILL BOTH PAY DEARLY.”

Both messages and another sent to a family member of the informant were traced to a library computer at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. Video surveillance captured Szymanski using the computer at the time the message was sent, Homeland Security Special Agent Mark Duffy wrote in a report.

Szymanski admitted to agents he sent the messages when they paid a visit to his Boston area home on July 7, Duffy wrote. Szymanski was arrested the following day, and on a charge of threatening a government witness. He is scheduled for a detention hearing July 12 in U.S. District Court in Boston.