Villanova professor charged with marijuana possession

VILLANOVA, Pa. - March 20, 2008 (WPVI) -- Villanova engineering professor Edward Ritter has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

48-year-old Edward Ritter was arrested at his Collegeville home yesterday.

He is a long time professor here at Villanova, but investigators say he had a lucrative business on the side, buying and selling marijuana.

Police say undercover agents bought pot from Ritter on two separate occasions.

He showed up while they were searching his house last night.

Police say Ritter had some of the marked bills in his wallet from the drug buys.

Investigators don't know yet if he had been selling drugs on the Villanova campus, but it is an ongoing investigation.

"Like in any other case, the arrest itself doesn't stop an investigation, we always want to know if someone's criminal conduct was extending beyond what we know about. We'll look in on all possibilities. We'll certainly look into the possibility that he might have been distributing these drugs elsewhere," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said.

Word of the arrest is just now getting around the campus. Students say they're more disappointed than anything else.

"Any university, but specifically here, we uphold certain morals and values and that's completely against all of them" student Caitlin Cotter said.

According to court documents obtained exclusively by Action News, investigators found 19 bags of marijuana and various items of drug paraphernalia in Ritter's home. He is now free on bail, but we don't know what his status is here at Villanova since the University has not returned our phone calls.

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local/state, david henry

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