Wis. frat president faces drug charges; chapter temporarily suspended

The president of a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fraternity being investigated after a party there left several people hospitalized and with memory lapses is facing unrelated drug charges.

Tau Kappa Epsilon president Thomas Kreinbring was charged Friday with possession of a prescription drug without a valid prescription, keeping a drug house and other charges, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The complaint does not accuse Kreinbring of spiking drinks with drugs at the Sept. 12 party. Chief Deputy Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern said officials are still investigating.

Defense attorney Daniel Adams told The Associated Press on Sunday that he's dismayed by the media's rush to judgment and confident Kreinbring will be vindicated once all the facts are out.

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According to a criminal complaint, Kreinbring, 28, is accused of possessing Adderall and marijuana. Adderall is used to treat attention deficit disorder, but Kreinbring told police he uses it and marijuana to help him study, according to the complaint.

He also said that if a roommate asked him for marijuana, he would sell it without making a profit, according to the complaint.

Police began investigating the fraternity after several students who attended the Sept. 12 party were left severely intoxicated and with memory lapses. Police said three women and one man were hospitalized.

According to a search warrant affidavit, police got their first call late Friday about an intoxicated woman at a dorm. Fifteen minutes later, they were called about another woman who could barely walk or speak. Both were hospitalized, and both had a red X on their hands.

While police were helping the second woman, they found a man with a black X on his hand, who was vomiting.

The man told police he'd been at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house with a female friend, who also had a red X on her hand. That woman, who was not hospitalized, told police she had given drinks to the man, according to the affidavit.

The third woman who required hospitalization was also found at the dorm.

Other attendees told police some cups were moved under the bar while drinks were being mixed and that several shots of vodka looked cloudy, according to the affidavit.

The national Tau Kappa Epsilon organization has temporarily suspended the local chapter. The university has suspended the fraternity's affiliation while police investigate, a spokesman told the newspaper.