He did not respond to interview requests. Ms. Waters' letter to Ms. Reno states that Mr. Smith and his associates feared for their lives because of what they called racist police harassment and use of excessive force. In a personal appeal to DEA officials, Ms. Waters cited the fact that the lead agent in the case, Jack Schumacher, had been previously involved in six fatal police shootings. Authorities said each of the shootings was justifed. Last spring, Agent Schumacher, a 27-year law enforcement veteran who directed the case through more than 20 state and federal convictions as well as cocaine seizures in Oklahoma City, Beaumont and Houston, was transferred from active investigation to a desk job.
Police involved in the inquiry again blame Washington politics.
It appears the object was to get them to stop their investigation, and it appears that worked. The head of the DEA's Houston division said the investigation is ongoing and Agent Schumacher was transferred because he was needed elsewhere. I'm the agent in charge of the whole division. I'm the guy who would know. But other Houston drug investigators said that Agent Howard made it clear to them last September that the case was over.