Former DEA agent sentenced to over 13 years in prison

Convicted for nine crimes related
to theft, official misconduct, and obstruction, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) special agent was sentenced Thursday to more than 13 years
in federal prison.

Between 2009 and 2016, DEA Special
Agent Chad Scott and DEA Task Force Officer Rodney Gemar stole the personal
property of arrestees, including items like wallets, phones, and keys. Instead
of logging these items into evidence or returning them to the owners, Scott and
Gemar kept the stolen property in their desks.

In addition to stealing cash from
arrestees, Scott and Gemar skimmed money off of cash
seizures
made by the DEA. After a co-conspirator was arrested in January
2016, Scott and Gemar, along with another colleague named Karl Newman,
destroyed the evidence of their crimes, in part by throwing that evidence into
the swamps outside New Orleans.

In July 2017, former DEA Task Force
Officer Karl Newman pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a firearm
in furtherance of an August 2015 robbery, which was disguised as the execution
of a search warrant, as well as misappropriating money confiscated by the DEA
during another search. Newman was a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy
who had also been serving as a DEA task force officer in New Orleans.

In a separate federal trial, Scott
directed a Houston-based drug trafficker to buy a Ford F-150 truck worth
approximately $43,000 and forfeit the truck to Scott as part of the drug
trafficker’s cooperation. Scott then falsified the seizure paperwork for the
truck, including falsely claiming that he had seized the truck in New Orleans
instead of Houston, in order to facilitate the vehicle being forfeited and
given to Scott as his official government vehicle.

In September 2017, Scott and Gemar
were initially indicted on 13
counts
, including obstruction of justice, perjury, and conversion of
property of another by an officer or employee of the United States. Scott was
found guilty in August 2019 and June 2021 after his case was severed into two
separate federal trials by Federal District Court Judge Jane Milazzo.

In August 2019, Scott was found
guilty of two counts of perjury,
three counts of obstruction of justice, and two counts of falsifying government
records. In June 2021, he was found guilty of conspiracy and conversion of
property, while Gemar was found guilty of conspiracy, conversation of property,
and removal of property.

On Thursday, Scott was sentenced to
160 months in federal prison.

“Chad Scott wielded his police
powers to victimize the very citizens he had sworn to serve and protect,
eroding the community’s trust in law enforcement and undermining the rule of
law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division in a press
release
. “Today’s sentencing shows that law enforcement officers who betray
the public’s trust will be held accountable and punished accordingly.”

“Chad Scott took an oath to serve
his community with integrity, but rather than use his badge to protect his
community, he used it to break the law,” stated DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
“This goes against everything that the Drug Enforcement Administration stands
for. Scott betrayed the very people he was entrusted to protect and today he is
being held accountable for his crimes.”

“Corrupt officials who break the
law and breach their oaths will be prosecuted and sent to prison, even if they
come from within the ranks of federal law enforcement,” asserted Special Agent
in Charge Douglas Williams Jr. of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office. “Today’s
sentencing demonstrates that Chad Scott will be held responsible and that no
one is above the law.”

“While he was a law enforcement
agent, Scott compromised cases and conspired to steal from the people he
arrested,” noted Special Agent in Charge Douglas Bruce of the Justice
Department’s Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) Denver Field Office.
“His actions were antithetical to the oath he swore to uphold. Now, he will
rightly serve time for his many crimes.”

FALL FUNDRAISER

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