While the bulk of drug use and distribution that happens on college campusesis done by students and visitors to the school, faculty can sometimes play arole as well. Whether using, selling, or both, many professors have gottencaught up in illegal activities that have played a significant role in endingtheir academic careers and landing them some serious jail time. Here, we’vefeatured just 10 professors who ended up on the wrong side of the law formanufacturing, using, and selling drugs on campus or in their communities.
Contacts and sources:
Jasmine Hall
Professors Irina Kristy has been all over the news latelyfor her involvement in drug scandal. Kristy has been teaching math at BostonUniversity and Suffolk University since the mid-eighties, but what her studentsdidn’t know about her was that in recent years she was also manufacturing andselling methamphetamines with her son out of their home. Though quite old to bedealing drugs at 74, legal experts say that isn’t likely to help the senior andthat she’ll likely live out the rest of her life in jail. A sad end for a womanwho spent years fighting the oppressive Soviet regime before moving to the USwith her son to escape the KGB. There is no word yet as to why Kristy wasselling drugs.
The secret drug-dealing, gang-leading life of Stephen Kinzeysounds like something out of a movie script. A kinesiology professor at CalState San Bernardino, Kinzey had taught at the school for over a decade withoutanyone knowing anything about his other, much darker side. Kinzey wasn’t justmaking money as a professor, he was also a leader of a local Devils Diciplesmotorcycle gang and was running a meth ring with his live-in girlfriend. Kinzeywas a favorite professor of students, a devoted father, and seemed to be on thestraight and narrow, but looks can be deceiving. He is now charged with drugdealing, running a street gang, and possessing illegal firearms.
Drug dealing ended the career of CU-Boulder sociologyprofessor, Margaret Zamudio. In 2000, Zamudio was arrested for suspicion ofselling cocaine after she was caught in possession of illegal substances. Shealleged that she had been given the drugs at a faculty party, but police foundno evidence of this, but due to witness reliability issues and admissibility ofevidence, Zamudio was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge ofpossession of drug paraphernalia. Ironic, as one of her areas of study was drugpolicy. It may have been Zamudio’s drug addiction, however, more than herselling that led to her dismissal from the school, though she sued theuniversity over her dismissal, claiming it was on grounds of race. Sadly,Zamudio’s drug use, in this case alcohol, led to her death in 2010, after shefell while drunk and hit her head.
A PhD candidate and history professor at Loyola wouldn’t beyour first guess for a marijuana grower and distributor, but that’s just whatthis Chicago-area academic found himself in hot water over after a bust by theDEA found him to be part of a small growing operation in the suburb of Berwyn.Police found 52 plants, $10,000 in cash, and 15 pounds of marijuana in Kralj’sresidence, surprising to many of his students and coworkers. A husband, father,and fairly well-known musician, it’s unclear what motivation Kralj had to takesuch a risk, but he may soon be facing jail time for the offense.
If there’s ever been a professor that is the essence of theterm “train wreck,” it might just be Philip Alan Barker. Barker taughtpsychiatry at the University of Calgary and worked at the Alberta Children’sHospital throughout the eighties and nineties, and was at the time was doingwell as an author and child psychiatrist. Unfortunately, Barker also had aserious drug problem and was in and out of rehab for almost a decade and facedserious charges ranging from drug use, to DWI, to being caught with an underageprostitute. In 2000, he was arrested for selling narcotics (crack cocaine) toan undercover police officer. Barker’s life has spiraled downward since then,as he is no longer allowed to practice medicine, he has gone bankrupt and hasbeen accused of a long list (whichyou can read here) of offenses.
Perhaps to protect his privacy, no first name is given tothis drug-dealing professor in any documentation we can find online, thoughperhaps foreign language records exist on the matter. Cha, a professor at aprestigious Korean university, was caught making and selling illegal drugs. Ina real life Breaking Bad turn, this well-regarded chemistryprofessor had every chemical he needed to manufacture designer drugs on hand,which he then sold over the internet. Cha, who wasn’t especially well-paid as avisiting professor, said he needed the money to help his girlfriend pay for hercollege tuition.
In 2008, Villanova chemical engineering professor EdwardRitter was busted for selling marijuana to undercover police officers. The48-year-old professor allegedly sold drugs to the cops on two occasions and wasfound to have 18 bags of marijuana in his home. The arrest shocked students andassociates alike, who couldn’t believe the Catholic university professor wouldbe involved in selling drugs.
Generally, selling drugs doesn’t just mean jail time, italso means an end to a career as a professor. Paul Prosperino learned that thehard way after he was found to have thousands of prescription pills in his homewhich he was selling, as well as illegal firearms. A former professor ofcomputer science and economics, Prosperino hoped to use his drug money to helpout family members, but now faces up to 10 years in prison for his crimes.
Cancer researcher and professor of pharmacology at theUniversity of Tennessee, Asura has a lot of knowledge about how drugs affectthe body. That’s why, when he was busted in 2008 for selling meth, part of hispunishment was to write an essay on the dangers of methamphetamine use. Beforehis criminal activities were revealed, Asura was a highly regarded professorand researcher, but as he spiraled into drug addiction and peddling hedeveloped a violent and unpredictable alter ego known on the streets as “TheProfessor.” Today, Asura is serving a three year sentence for his wrongdoings.
Unlike the other professors that populate this list, ClarkFreshman, a professor of law at UC Hastings, wasn’t actually selling any kindof drugs. That didn’t stop police from raiding his penthouse apartment earlierthis year and placing Freshman in handcuffs, however. An expert in mediationand law, a furious Freshman tried to resolve the situation and informed policethat their search was illegal, to no avail. Fortunately for Freshman, he wascorrect and he is currently suing the DEA and SFPD for unlawful search andseizure. The problem? The police had a warrant to search the building (theybelieved someone in the building was growing marijuana, which they were, but itwasn’t Freshman), but failed to distinguish between units.
Contacts and sources:
Jasmine Hall
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