Authorities in Indiana arrested a university professor for allegedly dealing methamphetamines and offering women money to sleep with them following a lengthy investigation.
Purdue professor Sergey Macheret, 65, was arrested this week and faces three criminal allegations, including dealing methamphetamine and propositioning a person for sexual favors, according to Tippecanoe County Jail records. https://t.co/4PbVTdG1U4
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 3, 2023
According to the New York Post, Sergey Macheret, 65, an aeronautics professor at Purdue University, was arrested on Wednesday after the Lafayette Police Department in Indiana investigated reports of a suspicious man approaching women offering them money to sleep with them.
Authorities charged Macheret with possession of meth, dealing meth, and making an unlawful proposition, which Indiana Code describes as offering to pay someone money or material goods to engage in intercourse or other lewd acts, according to a WGN-TV report.
According to the Lafayette Police Department, Sergey Macheret, 65, of Lafayette was arrested on Wednesday after a lengthy investigation into reports of a “suspicious male approaching women.”
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) February 3, 2023
Lafayette police said they began investigating Macheret in December after the department received several reports regarding a suspicious man approaching women. After receiving several reports of the incidents over the last two months, investigators identified Macheret as a suspect and obtained information through a plain-clothed officer on Wednesday.
The information obtained led to a traffic stop which subsequently led to Macheret’s arrest, according to police.
Following Macheret’s arrest, the university released a statement saying it’s aware of the arrest and charges and that the award-winning professor has been placed on leave pending updates and legal proceedings. The university added that Macheret has been barred from campus ground and that it will fully cooperate with the investigation.
“The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is working to ensure that undergraduate and graduate student needs are met regarding lectures and labs,” the university stated in a statement.
The head of Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Bill Crossley, sent an email to students and staff confirming that Macheret has been placed on leave.
“Purdue University, and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is aware of the arrest of Sergey Macheret,” the email read. “Purdue and AAE will cooperate fully with the investigation. We will be following up with the students in AAE 334 and with Prof. Macheret’s graduate students and postdocs shortly.”
Crossley added in his email that he and the university could not comment on a pending legal matter. He, however, urged students, staff, and faculty to contact him directly if they had any questions regarding the case’s impact on their academic endeavors.
