Disgraced DEA agent known as 'White Devil' is jailed for 13 years after stealing from suspects, falsifying records and committing perjury

Former DEA Agent Chad Scott, 53, was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison for stealing money from suspects, falsifying government records and committing perjury in a federal trial

A prolific narcotics agent known as the 'white devil' among drug traffickers was sentenced Thursday to more than 13 years behind bars for stealing money from suspects, falsifying government records and committing perjury during a federal trial.

Chad A. Scott, 53, was convicted in 2019 of falsifying paperwork to convince a drug trafficker to purchase a truck he wanted so that the DEA could seize it and he could take hold of it, as well as perjury against a Houston-based heroin and cocaine trafficker that ultimately led to the man's release.

Then in June, Scott was again convicted in a scheme to steal from the suspected drug dealers he arrested.

Prosecutors have claimed Scott is more dangerous than the most hardened heroin dealers he locked up in his 17 years as a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, saying the Louisiana lawman 'broke every rule in the book' to enforce his 'own approximation of justice.'

And in her decision on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo said Scott has caused 'far reaching' damage 'to the administration of justice.' 

Scott, seen here leaving court this week, was convicted in 2019 of of falsifying paperwork to convince a drug trafficker to purchase a truck he wanted so that the DEA could seize it and he could take hold of it, as well as perjury against a Houston-based heroin and cocaine trafficker that ultimately led to the man's release

His sentencing comes just one day after Scott, an avid water skier, took the stand in a packed New Orleans courtroom to plead for mercy.

He told Milazzo he was 'ashamed of being here,' adding he had long since been 'convicted in the press and public opinion.' 

'I am not the monster that has been portrayed,' he said, according to NoLa.com, 'I'm married to Michelle and the proud father of these two boys.'

He said becoming a federal drug agent was an ambition he has had since he was in college and that he loved the work, seeking to underline his contributions to agency.

'I did work hard as a DEA agent, and I do believe in the DEA's mission,' he said. 'Over the years, I have put my life on the line every day.'

Scott also claimed he truly believed he was twice the target of murder-for-hire plots, 'an example of the length people will go to to remove me from drug trafficking investigations.' 

One dealer even tried to take out a hit on the agent for $15,000, while Scott was was name checked by one Houston rapper, Scarface, in an album blasting the DEA, The Advocate reported after his arrest in 2016.

Scott has claimed to be loyal to the DEA, which he said he first wanted to join in college 

He had once been seen as a 'model agent' for his drug busts from Atlanta to New Orleans

But some in the DEA began to question his allegiances, even as he made headlines as a 'model agent' for his drug busts from Atlanta to New Orleans. 

More than a decade before his arrest, Scott was accused by a Washington Parish woman of supplying narcotics. She claimed to have seen the agent taking drugs from a property after an arrest.

There were also allegations surrounding the agent that he was involved with the disappearance of tens of thousands of dollars after a recent drugs raid.

He had also been accused of planting drugs and recruiting desperate informants from a halfway house - breaching DEA rules.

One law enforcement official, who would not be named, told The Advocate at the time that managers would turn a blind eye to indiscretions as long as agents were 'seizing a lot of dope and a lot of cash'.

'Case-makers are protected,' he added.

On another occasion, Scott was actually suspended for allowing an informant to use his own money during a sting to try and prove to the dealer that the deal was legitimate. That practice violates DEA policy.

However, he had been cleared in the past of the most serious charges during an internal investigation - such as allowing his informant to continue dealing drugs.

Arthur Lemann III, a veteran defense attorney who accused Scott of 'outrageous misconduct' in a federal drug case, told The Advocate: 'I've always felt that he was sort of off the books, that he was a guy who would go to extremes that I felt violated a sense of equal justice.' 

But it wasn't until the arrest of former Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Deputy Johnny Domingue, whom Scott had worked with, that his wrongdoings really started coming to light, with allegations circulating that his crew shook down suspects, used the drugs they nabbed, and sometimes sold them. 

Domingue and fellow deputy Karl Newman, 54, were arrested and pleaded guilty, admitting to stealing from suspects, and sometimes using or selling their drugs.

They would reportedly seize property in 'unsanctioned locations,' and would then 'unlawfully convert the property, including United States currency, for their own unlawful use and enrichment,' The Advocate reported at the time. 

Domingue and Newman both testified against Scott and were sentenced to 34 and 42 months, respectively. 

Hammond Police Officer Rodney Gemar was also indicted with Scott in June on counts of taking suspects' personal property and was found guilty of taking victims' wallets, phones and keys instead of logging them into evidence or returning them to their owners, according to FOX 8.

When they began to worry that they would be investigated, the Department of Justice announced, Scott and the others conspired to throw evidence of their wrongdoing into the swamps outside New Orleans. They also used approximately $4,800 in stolen money to pay for an attorney for one of their alleged co-conspirators in 2016.

Gemar has yet to be sentenced. 

Scott was also a keen athlete and competitive water skier - winning the first stop of the Nautique Big Dawg World Tour in Acapulco, Mexico the April before his arrest

Prosecutors in Scott's case argued he should get time equal to the crime for which he obstructed justice - the case of Jorge Perralta, who could have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison had he not been able to walk free due to Scott's perjury.

They also said he should get extra time for abuse of trust and for being in a leadership role, asking Milazzo to sentence Scott to nearly 20 years in prison.

'Scott proved himself to be a brazen criminal who hid himself behind the badge,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Duree argued, saying he 'did a staggering amount of damage.'

On Wednesday, prosecutors called for three witnesses who said they had also been wronged by Scott, including Julius Cerdes, who said that Scott planted a bag of marijuana in his truck in 2005 after 'ambushing' him as he arrived home late one night.

He said Scott threated him with more prison time because he was carrying a gun at the time, but he entered a plea deal, reportedly lying under oath that the marijuana was his.

Another alleged victim said Scott twice lashed his mouth with the medallion on a necklace he was wearing during a 1999 arrest that brought no charges, then confiscated the chain and took nearly a year to return it.

'This goes against everything that the Drug Enforcement Administration stands for,' Anne Milgram, the newly sworn-in DEA administrator, said in a statement. 'Scott betrayed the very people he was entrusted to protect and today he is being held accountable for his crimes.'

Scott was convicted in 2019 of orchestrating false testimony against a Houston-based heroin and cocaine trafficker - perjury that tainted the dealer's conviction and allowed him to walk free. 

The same federal jury found Scott falsified paperwork for a Ford F-150 pickup - a vehicle he directed another drug trafficker to buy so the DEA could seize it and give it to Scott.

'He undercut law enforcement and he disgraced the entire judicial process,' federal prosecutor Timothy Duree told that first jury. 'He was sworn to uphold the law but instead, he broke it for his own selfish purposes.'

As a result of his actions, prosecutors claimed, a number of drug defendants were either released, or had their sentences reduced. 

But in her decision to convict him to 13 years in prison Thursday, Milazzo noted he had already served 20 months of home confinement.

Scott is now among a growing list of DEA agents who have been accused of abusing their authority in recent years. 

Another veteran agent, Jose Irizzary, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with a Colombian cartel money launderer, filing false reports and ordering DEA staff to wire money slated for undercover stings to international accounts he controlled.

At least a dozen DEA agents across the country have been criminally charged since 2015 on counts ranging from wire fraud and bribery to selling firearms to drug traffickers, according to court records. That includes a longtime special agent in Chicago who pleaded guilty to infiltrating the DEA on behalf of drug traffickers and another accused of accepting $250,000 in bribes to protect the Mafia.