“It was clear from the way the drugs were packaged that it was possession with the intent to distribute,” Catalano said.
Police cannot make on-the-spot arrests on marijuana charges unless the quantity possessed by a suspect exceeds 50 lbs., Catalano said.
“Regardless of how much marijuana Mr. Schaffer had, nothing was going to prevent us from charging him with possession with intent to distribute,” Catalano said. But if Schaffer only possessed marijuana, police would have to obtain a summons before making an arrest.
The officers left the scene without taking Schaffer into custody.
When Karns returned to HUPD headquarters, he consulted a reference source to identify the unknown substances confiscated from Schaffer’s room. “In my opinion, the substance I confiscated from the drawer of Robert’s desk...was psilocybin,” Karns wrote.
Psilocybin is a Class C drug under Massachusetts’ Controlled Substances Act, allowing police to arrest Schaffer without a summons.
Karns said he and HUPD Sergeant Daniel Brown arrested Schaffer shortly before 5 a.m. on Thursday morning.
Mather House officials did not return requests for comment. Schaffer declined comment.
According to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Handbook for Students, “when court action is pending or in progress, the Administrative Board may delay or suspend its own review process, in recognition of the student’s criminal defense interests.”
Schaffer was recruited by Harvard in 2001 to play tailback on the football squad, but quit the varsity team in January 2003.
He withdrew from classes last March and moved to Paris to improve his sketch artwork. “I stopped playing because I found myself no longer able to suppress my creative capacities,” Schaffer wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson last year.
Schaffer was formerly internal vice president of the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha, but has been “incommunicado” with the group for about a year, said Raymond E. Hill ’05, president of the fraternity.
“The news of the arrest came as a complete shock to me,” said Joelle Hobeika ’05, who identified herself as Schaffer’s ex-girlfriend. “In all the time I’ve known him, he’s been an incredibly upright and responsible person,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson.
“The only way I can rationalize the incident is as a brief, though major, lapse in judgement. I can only hope the consequences won’t be long-term,” Hobeika said.
“Rob is one of the most moral people I know. I feel as though what he is going through has been very undeserved,” said Sadie Robins-Murov ’05, who said she is a friend of Schaffer. “A lot of people are really upset and angry about this.”
—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.