In the Gray Area

DEA Agent Chad Scott, known by the nickname the "White Devil," was a highly decorated but controversial agent who was assigned to the infamous New Orleans DEA Task Force. Scott led a group of agents who primarily worked on the Northshore area of New Orleans, an area he ruled and was widely known and feared by drug traffickers. He had a mythical status among criminals and made an inordinate number of arrests, so many so that there were three attempts on his life. Scott's illustrious career began to unravel in 2016 after two of the agents who worked alongside him were arrested and cooperated with federal agents. The information they provided on him to federal investigators and prosecutors eventually led to his arrest. His fellow law enforcement officers had a divided reaction to his arrest. His loyal friends and followers believed he was innocent and had been railroaded by his two fellow agents, claiming they lied to investigators so they could save themselves and get their sentences reduced. They cited the lack of physical evidence and the lack of corroborating testimony at his trial. Those who criticized him thought he was guilty of the crimes he was convicted of and many more. Scott's detractors often compared him to Denzel Washington's character in the hit movie Training Day and claimed, at the very least, he violated and pushed the limits of DEA's policies and procedures, constantly working in the gray area. This story is told from the viewpoints of Scott and former DEA Supervisor James "Skip" Sewell, starting from his early years as a young narcotics detective with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office. It follows his career after he was hired as a Special Agent by the DEA and assigned to the DEA's Houston Office, where he did a controversial three-year stint and was involved in a fatal shooting and the ill-fated investigation of the rap music mogul J. Prince and his company, Rap-A-Lot Records. In 2000, he was transferred back home to the New Orleans office, where he worked side-by-side with and developed a strong friendship with several agents, the same agents that would ultimately turn on him and lead to his downfall.