Editor’s note, Feb. 6, 2014: Daniel Zimnikov’s record was expunged by a court order in 2011.
Two GW students were arrested in separate drug-related incidents over the weekend, both charged with possession of a controlled substance and one with the intent to distribute.
Sophomore Daniel Zimnikov was arrested and charged with unlawful possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to court documents.
At around 3:15 a.m. Sept. 26, a witness told a Metropolitan Police Department officer that he had purchased marijuana from Zimnikov, according to court documents. The court documents did not name the witness. The MPD officer confirmed the sophomore’s address in the Francis Scott Key residence hall, and subsequently received permission to perform an administrative search. The search yielded “a large plastic baggie with 11 smaller baggies inside,” according to court documents.
“Each smaller baggie contained a green leafy substance,” according to the documents, which tested positive for THC found in marijuana.
According to the documents, the search also yielded “a brown pipe, red grinder, and ashtray on the kitchen table,” an additional “small plastic baggie of green leafy substance” and “a scale in the kitchen drawer,” and a “small baggie of green leafy substance in the top middle desk drawer,” all of which tested positive for THC.
According to University Police records, GW Housing Programs conducted a search and found approximately 65 grams of marijuana individually packaged in plastic bags in FSK.
At the time, Zimnikov took responsibility for the items found in the search and was charged with possession with intent to distribute, according to the documents. He later pleaded not guilty in court Monday.
Zimnikov did not return request for comment, and his lawyer Lisbeth Sapirstein declined to comment on the case. He is due in D.C. Superior Court Oct. 21 for an initial status hearing.
Another student, freshman Andrew Hoffman, was arrested Sept. 24, after he was caught smoking “what is believed to be a marijuana cigarette in the rear of Tonic Restaurant located at 21st and G streets,” according to court documents.
According to the documents, Hoffman told UPD officers on scene that he had marijuana in his room, was then placed under arrest and brought to his room in Thurston Hall. There, a community director conducted an administrative search, which yielded 26.8 grams of a green leafy substance, rolling papers, a pipe and two pills shaped like stars, which tested positive for “what is believed to be” Ecstasy, according to the documents.
Hoffman denied that the pills were his, saying “that his friend called him yesterday to tell him he had left the pills while he was visiting,” and that he was “unsure what the pills were but guessed it was ecstasy,” according to court documents.
Hoffman pleaded not guilty on two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, according to documents. He declined to comment until after his initial status hearing Oct. 19.
