‘Preppy killer’ denies guilt on drug charges

Robert Chambers, who gained notoriety 20 years ago as the Central Park “preppy killer,” pleaded not guilty to drug charges Thursday and was ordered held without bail until a hearing next week.

Chambers, 41, and girlfriend Shawn Kovell, 39, each pleaded not guilty before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Charles H. Solomon.

The pampered onetime Upper East Side prep school playboy made headlines worldwide for the strangulation death of Jennifer Levin, 18, in Central Park in 1986. He claimed it happened during rough sex. He served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter.

In the drug case, prosecutors asked that bail be set at $50,000 for each suspect, but the judge put off a decision and ordered both held until a bail hearing Monday.

Chambers and Kovell were represented by public defenders.

It appeared that no family or friends of either suspect were in the courtroom. Chambers, in a black T-shirt and jeans, entered with his head held high. He delivered his plea in a soft voice.

Kovell entered with head bowed and spoke in a clear, loud voice. Her lawyer asked that her case be treated as that of an ordinary first-time defendant with no prior arrests, and that she be released on her own recognizance.

Chambers’ lawyer, Valerie Van Leer-Greenberg of Manhattan, asked the court to pay for an investigator to look into evidence cited by the prosecution, including videotape of an alleged drug transaction at the couple’s East Side apartment, as well as audiotape and photographs.

Chambers has been in and out of trouble since his release from prison on Valentine’s Day 2003.

This latest brush with the law could land him behind bars for 150 years if convicted, in part because of his record.