Columbia student admits role in drug sales

NEW YORK - A Columbia University junior at the heart of a drug takedown at the Ivy League school agreed yesterday to go to jail for selling cocaine, while four fellow students pressed a court to give them a shot at treatment instead of time behind bars.

Harrison David pleaded guilty to a felony drug-sale charge, acknowledging he sold cocaine to an undercover officer outside David’s off-campus apartment last August. That was one of a slate of cocaine- and marijuana-dealing accusations against David, who was the initial target of a five-month investigation that spawned charges against the students and three off-campus suppliers.