App State students among 21 facing federal drug charges. Authorities allege LSD, cocaine and marijuana sales on college campuses.

Two Appalachian State students are among 21 people facing federal drug charges. The suspects are accused in connection with more than $1.5 million in illegal narcotic sales at or near Appalachian State, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University, authorities said Thursday.

Kyle Parrish Beckner, 22, of Boone is charged with distribution of LSD and the use of text messaging to facilitate a drug felony, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Devin James McDonald, 23, of Kill Devil Hills is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, the Justice Department said.

Neither Beckner nor McDonald could be reached Thursday for comment.

Chad Axford of Raleigh, Beckner’s attorney, and Mark E. Edwards of Durham, McDonald’s attorney, declined to comment about the charges against their clients.

The alleged drug sales involved members of several fraternities at the three schools, the Justice Department said.

Matthew Martin, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, Robert Murphy, the special agent in charge of the Atlanta office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and Sheriff Charles Blackwood of Orange County, held a news conference Thursday in Hillsborough to discuss the drug investigation.

"No one is above the law, including college students and fraternity members at elite universities," Martin said. "This serious drug trafficking is destructive and reckless, and many lives have been ruined."

In the past several years, Beckner, McDonald and 19 other defendants allegedly funneled more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, several hundred kilograms of cocaine and large quantities of other drugs to the three college campuses, the Justice Department said.

Court documents show that the defendants are accused of shipping cocaine from California using the U.S. Postal Service and transporting marijuana by vehicle, the Justice Department said.

The suspects are also accused of shipping money from the illegal drug transactions through the postal service, and about $1.3 million in drug money changed hands through money orders, Western Union and mobile payment applications, the Justice Department alleged.

Court documents revealed that, this summer, a cooperating defendant identified an Appalachian State University student and member of the Delta Chi fraternity in Boone as a known distributor of controlled substances to other ASU students, the Justice Department said.

Beckner is accused of selling 1,000 doses of LSD to the informant in August for $3,000 in the parking lot of a Chapel Hill restaurant. Investigators said that, in October 2019, they bought one ounce of cocaine from McDonald, another Appalachian State student, after McDonald was identified by a cooperating source as someone who distributed cocaine to other ASU students, the Justice Department said.

The investigation revealed a dangerous fraternity culture at Appalachian State, UNC and Duke, Martin alleged.

"University administrators and national chapters cannot turn a blind eye to the impact on these students and the environment on their respective college campuses," Martin said. "The drug culture feeds many other problems on campus and in our society. University administrators must take a stand and put a stop to it.”

In a statement, Appalachian State University said that it’s fully cooperating with the investigators in this matter.

Appalachian State has no on-campus fraternity houses, and university officials issue a report twice a year on the status of recognized fraternities and sororities.

“We are committed to providing a safe campus, and will continue our work with education and prevention, as well as utilizing student conduct and law enforcement processes, to do so,” the university said.