A prominent and award-winning aeronautics professor at Purdue University was arrested on Wednesday night on allegations of dealing in illegal drugs and propositioning individuals for inappropriate intercourse, according to the Lafayette, Indiana, Police Department.
Sergey Macheret, 65, who has been a faculty member in the field of aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue since 2014, has been charged with dealing meth, possessing meth, and making an unlawful proposal. Indiana law prohibits offering any form of compensation in exchange for intimate physical conduct.
In December 2022, Lafayette police got information about a suspicious man, later identified as 65-year-old Sergey Macheret, approaching women. Police said people reported similar incidents over the last two months.https://t.co/gfnzeYh1OJ
— WTHR.com (@WTHRcom) February 3, 2023
Macheret holds degrees from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has received several service recognition awards from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. He has authored or co-authored numerous books and professional journal articles.
In response to the allegations, Purdue University has placed Macheret on leave and ordered him to stay away from campus. The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is also making arrangements to accommodate the needs of its students regarding coursework.
The investigation into Macheret’s activities began in December after police received multiple reports of a suspicious individual approaching individuals for apparently unlawful purposes. The initial complaint involved a “suspicious male approaching women.” There have been multiple reported incidents since then, police said.
Macheret was identified as the suspect and was arrested after a traffic stop following an operation where a plainclothes officer gathered information. The investigation into Macheret was conducted by the Lafayette Police Department’s Special Victim Unit.
At this time, no further information has been released by the police regarding the arrest and investigation of Macheret. The head of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Bill Crossley, stated that he could not comment on the legal proceedings but encouraged students and faculty to reach out to him directly if they have concerns or questions about the matter.
Purdue University Police will continue to assist the Lafayette Police Department during the investigation. The university has said in a press statement that it will cooperate fully with the investigation.
No attorney for Macheret who is authorized to speak on his behalf has yet been identified.
