DEA CASE OF $352,680 CASH SEIZURE DRAGS ON

A Drug Enforcement Administration investigation is entering its second
year without answers about why the husband of a former Albany County
prosecutor was driving a rented car across the country with a
backpack with $352,680 in cash.

Federal authorities in Illinois, where a state trooper discovered the
money during a routine traffic stop in November 2005, have filed a civil
complaint in U.S. District Court seeking to seize the cash on the
grounds it came from the proceeds of drug dealing.

Robert L. Schultz, 47, of Altamont "is the target of of a criminal
investigation," according to a motion filed by federal prosecutors. But
the seizure case has languished for months and been adjourned several
times as authorities have requested more time to complete their criminal
probe.

The scope of the ongoing investigation remains secret. A federal judge
earlier this year allowed the government to file under seal a DEA agent's
affidavit that outlined the investigation.

Schultz, who married former Assistant District Attorney Kimberly A.
Mariani, has challenged the government's assertion that the money came
from drug dealing. He filed court papers in Illinois arguing that
troopers illegally searched his car and cannot keep the money simply
because he gave varying accounts of where it came from.

Police claim Schultz told troopers the money was from his parents, whom he
described as millionaires, and that it was a down payment for a $500,000
home in Aruba. He also stated it was from his father, who is
a professional gambler; that it was an inheritance; that it was a wedding
gift for him and his wife; and that it was to pay his in-laws back for a
$200,000 loan, according to a federal complaint.

"There has not been a criminal indictment filed against Robert Schultz but
the matter is in the investigative stages," prosecutors wrote in a motion.

Law enforcement authorities said the money was sealed in shrink-wrap and
lined with scented fabric-softener sheets. A trooper who stopped Schultz
for speeding on Interstate 80 in Atkinson, Ill., on Nov. 20,
2005, claimed he smelled an odor of marijuana coming from inside the car
and from Schultz's body. Authorities impounded the car but found no trace
of drugs, which had been their reason for the search.

Mariani was subsequently fired from her job by Albany County District
Attorney David Soares in December 2005 after indicating she would invoke
her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. E. Stewart
Jones, Mariani's attorney, said he advised his client not to testify
before a federal grand jury in Illinois that was investigating Schultz.

Schultz was alone in the car when he was stopped and has not been charged
with any crime.