FORMER PROSECUTOR'S SPOUSE FIGHTS CASH SEIZURE

Federal Officials Say $352,680 Found In SUV Is Tied To Drug Dealing

ALBANY -- Federal authorities are moving to seize $352,680 in cash
that Illinois state troopers confiscated from a car being driven
across the country by the husband of a former Albany County prosecutor.

The Justice Department contends the money, which was sealed in
shrink-wrap and lined with scented fabric-softener sheets, is the
proceeds of drug dealing and therefore subject to seizure.

But Robert L. Schultz, 45, who is married to former Assistant
District Attorney Kimberly A. Mariani, is challenging the
government's assertion. He filed court papers in Illinois last week
arguing that troopers illegally searched his car and authorities
cannot keep the money simply because he gave varying accounts of
where it came from.

Mariani was fired from her job in December after she invoked her
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She refused to
testify before a federal grand jury in Illinois that was
investigating her husband, officials said.

The case broke open on Nov. 20 when a trooper stopped Schultz for
speeding along Interstate 80 in Atkinson, Ill. Schultz was driving a
Nissan Xterra sport utility vehicle that he had rented two days
earlier in Fresno, Calif., after he missed a flight to Albany.

The trooper claimed he smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from
inside the car and from Schultz's body. But after authorities
impounded the car, they did not find a trace of illegal drugs and
have not offered an explanation for the trooper's actions.

"There was no probable cause to search the vehicle in the first
place, (the trooper's) assertation that he smelled cannabis was
fabricated and merely a pretext to pursue an otherwise illegal
search," said a motion filed recently in U.S. District Court in
Illinois by Schultz's attorney, Joseph M. McCoy of Albany.

Still, federal authorities contend Schultz, who worked part-time for
his father-in-law, Timothy Coughtry, in Altamont, and also owned a
small, self-named construction company in California, gave police
several accounts of where the money was from and why he was driving
it across the country, according to federal authorities.

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.

"When Schultz was questioned about why his father vacuumed sealed the
currency in plastic bags, he indicated ... that it was just the way
he keeps his money," the complaint states. "Schultz also told law
enforcement that maybe his mom puts scented fabric softener sheets
between the plastic and the money so that the money would not mold."

Attorneys for Mariani and Schultz did return telephone calls seeking comment.

Mariani was interviewed at least once by DEA agents in Albany,
according to federal authorities and her attorney, E. Stewart Jones.

Mariani and Schultz, who were married in January 2005 and have shared
a home in Altamont, met in California several years ago. He spends
most of his time on the West Coast, Jones said previously.

The couple had recently been exploring options for purchasing a home
in Aruba, but Jones said nothing was finalized.

Schultz, who was alone in the car that day, has not been charged with
any crime.

Mariani joined the Albany County district attorney's office in
January 2000, working under former district attorneys Sol Greenberg
and Paul A. Clyne.