WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent was sentenced on Thursday to more than 13 years in prison after being convicted of nine crimes including perjury, obstruction of justice, and theft.
Court documents said that Chad Allan Scott, 53, of Covington, Louisiana, had lied under oath and instructed others to commit perjury to convict an alleged drug dealer. Investigators also alleged that Allen falsified documents so that he could take possession of a truck bought for him by a drug dealer.
The Justice Department said that eventually, Scott and two other investigators began to worry that they might fall under scrutiny themselves, so they “conspired” to throw evidence of their activities into swamps near New Orleans.
Prosecutors also alleged that Scott stole money and goods from defendants arrested by his DEA unit.
U.S. District Judge Jane Milazzo separated the case Scott into two trials, which produced guilty verdicts in August 2019 and June 2021.
“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,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. His total prison sentence is 160 months, the Justice Department said.
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Gregorio)
