An American university professor has been accused of making and selling crystal meth in Breaking Bad fashion. 65-year-old Sergey Macheret taught at the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics in West Lafayette, Indiana, during the incident that echos the hit series.
The teacher was arrested after the police received a series of complaints from multiple women who claimed he approached them. Before this incident, Macheret, who reportedly specialises in plasma science, had been taken into custody last December after a traffic stop but was released on bail.
The teacher is due to be charged with dealing methamphetamine, possessing methamphetamine, and making an unlawful proposition. This case bares similarities to the hit AMC drama Breaking Bad, starring Bryan Cranston as Walter White. Cranston’s TV icon character is a university professor who makes and sells crystal meth to pay for his cancer treatment and support his family.
The series also stars Bojack Horseman star Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, one of White’s former students who becomes his business partner.
Macheret has worked at Purdue University for eight years, and the school has revealed he has since been placed on leave and is banned from campus. Speaking to The New York Post, the university shared: “The university will cooperate fully with the investigation. The employee has been placed on leave pending further updates and legal proceedings and is barred from campus.”
They added: “The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is working to ensure that undergraduate and graduate student needs are met regarding lectures and labs.”
Bill Crossley, the head of the Purdue School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has encouraged students to share any additional information that could progress the investigation into Macheret.
“Any AAE students, staff and faculty who have questions or concerns about this impact of this matter on their academic endeavours [are asked] to contact me directly,” he told local TV.
Last July, the Albuquerque Convention Centre in New Mexico revealed bronze statues of fictional characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. The ceremony was attended by Breaking Bad cast members and crew, along with Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller.
New Mexico Republican figures responded to the statues with accusations they were “glorifying meth makers”.
Speaking to Fox News, Republican state representative Rod Montoya criticised the statues, saying: “I’m glad New Mexico got the business, but really? We’re going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?”
“It’s not the type of recognition we want for the city of Albuquerque, or for our state,” Eddy Aragon, a conservative radio host based in Albuquerque, shared. “I think what you saw on Breaking Bad should be a documentary honestly.”
He added: “I think, really, that is the reality in New Mexico. We try to say it’s fictional, but that is the reality, the Jesse Pinkman, the Heisenbergs, the man who is running everything, Gus [Fring], and the way that they’re bringing it in from Mexico is exactly the way that it is right now, so we’ve joked that it should be on PBS. That is, unfortunately, the reality.”
