Busted Student to Dad: 'Sorry I Screwed Up So Bad'

May 7, 2008— -- "I'm sorry I screwed up so bad" were the shameful words of one of the arrested San Diego State University (SDSU) students to his stunned and saddened family.

The father of the student, one of the 75 SDSU students arrested in yesterday's Drug Enforcement Administration drug bust, said his son was an "excellent" student who made a very "stupid" mistake.

"What was he thinking?" asked the father, who did not want to be named for fear of bringing more shame to his family. "I told him 'sorry' isn't going to do anything now," the father told ABCNews.com. "It's too late."

His son, who was charged with selling cocaine to an undercover agent on campus, will spend the night in jail because his family cannot afford to pay his $9,000 bail.

Authorities arrested 96 people for charges stemming from possession and sales of cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and other drugs at SDSU.

The mother of another student charged with possession of up to one ounce of cocaine and selling cocaine to an undercover agent on campus is worried about her son's future.

"Every time my boy goes to check a box, he might be denied a job for this. They took the future of my son away," she said. But she added, "He put himself in that position."

Today protesters, who oppose the "sensationalistic" sting operation, held a mock graduation at SDSU. Seventy-seven empty chairs represented the 75 students arrested and the two students who died from cocaine overdoses since 2007.

DEA said the bust came in response to the fatal overdoses on campus, but critics say drug busts do not prevent overdose deaths.

"Overdose deaths are tragic and preventable -- but not through sensationalistic drug busts and raids," said Drug Policy Alliance (DAP) Southern California director Margaret Dooley. DAP is a nonprofit organization that promotes alternatives to the war on drugs.

Gretchen Bergman, director of San Diego-based Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing, said the DEA sting will make students fearful of calling for help during overdose emergencies.