By Steve Neavling
A former DEA agent was sentenced Thursday to more than 13 years in prison on nine charges related to official misconduct.
Chad Allan Scott, 53, of Covington, La., was convicted in August 2019 and June 2021 of perjury, obstruction of justice, theft, and other charges.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Scott obtained a conviction against an alleged drug dealer by committing perjury and directing others to commit perjury. To take possession of a truck that a drug dealer bought him, he falsified forms. And worried about an investigation against him and two other law enforcement officers, he and the others conspired to throw evidence of their misdeeds into the swamps outside New Orleans.
He also stole money and possessions from suspects in drug cases.
“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,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing shows that law enforcement officers who betray the public’s trust will be held accountable and punished accordingly.”
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram added, “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. 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.”
Douglas A. Williams, Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, said the case against Scott shows “that no one is above the law.”
“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,” Williams said.
