UF PROFESSOR ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGE

A University of Florida professor of anthropology was arrested
Saturday night in the 900 block of NW 4th Place and charged with the
sale of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church,
according to the Gainesville Police Department.

[REDACTED], who has been a professor at UF since 1999, was approached
by a Gainesville police car near Progressive Church of Our Lord Jesus
Christ and was observed throwing a small plastic bag, the arrest
report said.

The bag was collected by the police officer, and it tested positive
for cocaine.

According to the report, after he was arrested [REDACTED] said he was
attempting to trade the cocaine for sexual favors with a man who the
officer had seen him with moments before.

[REDACTED] told police, according to the report, that the cocaine was
not his but that he had the cocaine because he was "curious."

Steve Orlando, a spokesman for UF, said that [REDACTED], 46, had been
placed on administrative leave following the arrest and that a
substitute professor would take over his classes temporarily.

"We really have to look at each individual thing on it's own and
handle (each) on a case-by-case basis," said Orlando, adding that it
is still an open investigation.

[REDACTED] specializes in the anthropological study of Brazilian and
Caribbean cultures and has been published a number of times.

"He's really a gifted researcher," Orlando said. "He's done work
that's been funded by the National Science Foundation on people in the
Amazon and their civilizations."

[REDACTED] was released from the Alachua County Jail on $25,000 bail
Sunday afternoon.