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A Michigan State Professor Is On Leave After Students Found Out He Was A Fugitive Using A Fake Name Who Ran A Meth Lab In Louisiana

The State News — Michigan State University kinesiology instructor Brendan Doyle is on leave after students found news articles linking him to a bust of a Louisiana meth lab.

In March 2020, Lafourche Parish sheriff's deputies found a meth lab "under a bridge over a canal" with "smoke coming from a bucket," according to a press release from Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre.

The deputies soon connected Doyle — then a professor at Nicholls State University — to the lab and obtained arrest warrants, but discovered he had fled the state.

Months later, they arrested Doyle after he was seen packing a moving truck at his residence. He was charged with "creation or operation of a clandestine laboratory for the unlawful manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance," according to the release.

What happened next is somewhat unclear.

The local prosecutor who would have handled Doyle's case told The State News they have no records of Doyle being tried or sentenced.

Captain Brennan Matherne of the Lafourche Parish sheriff's office said in an email to The State News that "based on our jail records, I can see that he was found guilty and served a sentence and was released."

That sentence didn't appear on the criminal background check MSU conducted before hiring Doyle this fall, MSU deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said.

But, students in Doyle's class quickly sleuthed out his past.

Looking for help with the assignments Doyle had left for students in his absence, Kinesiology sophomore Mackenzie Allbee joined a GroupMe chat with other members of the class. When she opened it, she saw dozens of messages as students found press releases and news articles about the 2020 meth lab bust.

"Everyone was really shocked, but everyone also already knew he was a little crazy from the first two classes, he had those angry outbursts," Allbee said. "Everyone was in shock and just disappointed with the university."

It took students some time to find the stories about Doyle because he worked at MSU under a modified name, Allbee said.

While his name on the sheriff's records and Louisiana news stories is "Brendan Doyle," his MSU profile used "B. Michael Doyle." Allbee said students only eventually made the connection because Doyle's iClicker profile listed his full first name.

Listen, say what you will about the guy running a meth lab, but I appreciate Brendan Doyle's commitment to molding young minds. He will do anything and everything in his power to find a university where he's able to continue pursuing his passion of teaching kinesiology. And what better guy to teach students the study of movement than a fugitive on the run? Seems like a guy trying to right his wrongs and improve the community if you ask me.

If you're trying to remain undetected as a meth-cooking fugitive, though, I would probably suggest coming up with a better alias than your real first initial and last name and make sure your profile on whatever software you're using in front of a lecture hall full of kids doesn't have your real name on there, also. Just a thought to avoid this sort of thing getting out there in the future.

It's gotta be such a kick in the dick to somehow get through a background check at a major public university and then get busted by a bunch of 19-year-olds with too much time on their hands. Back in my day, college kids were trying to get drunk at every opportunity, but I guess the kinesiology majors at Michigan State want to be little crime stoppers.

I really want this guy to get another job somewhere. We've figured out what doesn't work, now let's fix some things and send resumes out with a better plan. Third time's the charm.