(Kevin Swadley and Kip Swadley)
A man and his son who were arrested on drug charges in late November last year appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court this week.
A third person charged in the case, Rachel Harrelson, was due in court but did not show up and a failure to appear warrant was issued for her arrest.
ONE CRIME LEADS TO ANOTHER
The troubles for the Swadley family began when eldest son, Kip Swadley, got in trouble in mid-September 2019, spent some time in the county jail, and was put on probation for six years after a bench trial in late February last year.
He got in trouble again in early November last year when officers went to his home in Gassville to conduct a probation compliance visit, required because of his sentence in the initial case.
Swadley then faced new charges as well as a revocation of his probation in the initial case.
(Jacob Swadley and Rachel Harrelson)
The problem for the other Swadley family members and Harrelson, who was identified as younger brother Jacob Swadley’s girlfriend, is that the probation/parole officers found a significant number of items of drug paraphernalia and unlicensed tattoo equipment in the residence located along Peacock Lane.
FAMILY ROUNDUP
As a result of the finds during the home visit, Kip Swadley was arrested along with his father, Kevin, younger brother, Jacob, and the younger brother’s girlfriend.
The probation and parole officers reported finding about 20 devices used for ingesting drugs. The residue in two of the devices field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Most were said to have been used for smoking marijuana and/or THC wax.
THC is the main psychoactive property in marijuana. The wax is a concentrate that can contain THC levels equivalent to 15-20 marijuana cigarettes.
A variety of tattoo equipment was found in the living room and the bedroom occupied by Kip Swadley
He is alleged to have admitted to investigators the equipment belonged to him.
It is illegal in Arkansas to be in possession of such equipment without a license and the equipment can only be used in a permanent shop.
Kip Swadley has already pled in his cases. During his sentencing, Swadley repeated his claim of sole ownership of the equipment. He said he did not want his younger brother held responsible for his crime.
His guilty plea covered charges in the new criminal case stemming from the home visit by probation officers and a revocation of his probation in the initial.
He was sentenced to eight years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He is an inmate in the Varner Unit in Gould.
During the home visit, Officers also found a cooler in the yard of the residence containing a rotting deer carcass.
No one in the residence claimed to have any knowledge of the odoriferous cooler or how it had gotten to the residence.
An officer with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was informed about the deer parts.
The people at the residence were all charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Kip Swadley alone was charged with possession of the tattoo equipment, a Class A Misdemeanor.
SWADLEY BROTHERS NO SHOWS
Kip and Jacob Swadley did not help their cause when they did not show up for a scheduled court session in early April.
Kip Swadley was arrested on his failure-to-appear-warrant Apr. 25. Jacob was jailed May 16.
PUT ON PROBATION IN FEBRUARY 2020
In the probable cause affidavit, for his older case, Kip Swadley was named as one of three people fed incorrect information, sending them to the wrong home in search of an allegedly stolen rifle in mid-September 2019.
Instead of retrieving the firearm, two of the men Swadley and 30-year-old Greg “Tony” Garreans ended up flat on the ground with a pistol pointed at them by a very frightened, very angry homeowner.
The homeowner said Garreans was banging on the front door of his residence along Ben Nevis Drive in Briarcliff in the early morning hours of Sept. 19, 2019. Garreans and Swadley were reported to have been armed with 12-guage shotguns.
The homeowner told responding deputies he answered the door with gun-in-hand and “convinced” Garreans and Swadley to lay down their weapons.
A third man, known only as Alex, who was said to have been armed with a Samurai-style sword, fled the scene after seeing his two companions being held at gunpoint. He has not been found as yet.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the entire episode was based on bad information. Garreans told deputies he had found his AR-15 rifle missing and believed a houseguest had taken it.
A neighbor told Garreans he had talked with the houseguest on the telephone and that the man and the stolen weapon were at the residence along Ben Nevis Drive.
That turned out not to be true and Swadley and Garreans ended up being held at gunpoint and in trouble with the law.
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