Dr. Snow: How the F.B.I. Nailed an Ivy League Cocaine Ring

Twenty-six-year-old Larry Lavin, a gregarious, civic-minded, affluent Philadelphia dentist, headed a 12-state drug network through which he supplied his customers, many of them former prep-school and University of Pennsylvania friends who, in turn, often became dealers themselves. In this expanded version of a Philadelphia magazine article, Saline, coauthor of Straight Talk, recounts how he organized the drug ring and the FBI's four-year investigation, which led to the convictions of Lavin and 82 co-conspirators in 1987. Along the way, the author also provides an alarming insight into the extent of student addiction in a suspenseful tale of international intrigue involving a gallery of Ivy League clients, drug runners, Cuban and Colombian cocaine suppliers and mafioso distributors. Photos not seen by PW. (June)