Jacob Swadley, one of three members of his family arrested on drug charges in early November 2020, appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court recently and pled guilty to new drug charges filed against him.
The 23-year-old Swadley was sentenced to three years probation.
The state dismissed a revocation petition that was filed asking the court to revoke the 12-month suspended sentence Swadley was given in the first case in which he was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
In addition several of the new charges filed against him were also dropped.
The criminal cases in which Swadley has been involved follow a winding and complicated path, eventually involving nine people, including two other members of his family, multiple arrests in separate incidents and a long list of charges. Three of the people involved in the cases are in prison and several more have been put on probation after guilty pleas.
Another is in the Baxter County jail on charges filed this year.
SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES
Jacob Swadley’s newest arrest is basically the story of his initial run in with the law – minus other family members being involved.
On September 14, 2021, a Gassville police officer accompanied two probation and parole officers to a residence along Bayless Court in Gassville.
They were checking on 55-year-old Sean O’Neill who was reported to be on inactive supervision and 45-year-old Heather O’Neill reported to be on active supervision at the time of the visit.
Heather O’Neill described the living arrangements at the residence in a document filed with the court. She said she lived with her boyfriend in one bedroom, and her husband lived with his girlfriend in another bedroom.
In another filing she characterized the same house living arrangement as a “mutual separation.”
In the probable cause affidavit, Jacob Swadley is identified as Heather O’Neill’s boyfriend.
During the compliance visit, officers found a substance testing positive for methamphetamine, along with other drugs and paraphernalia used to ingest both methamphetamine and marijuana.
Heather O’Neill and Jacob Swadley were both taken to jail and booked on charges of possessing both drugs and drug paraphernalia.
As he did in his initial case, Jacob Swadley bonded out of jail and then was a no show for a court appearance on his new charges.
The court issued an alias warrant for him and he was arrested October 31 last year He has been an inmate in the Baxter County jail since that arrest.
ONE CRIME LEADS TO ANOTHER
The troubles for the Swadley family began when eldest son, 29-year-old 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 2020 when officers went to his home in Gassville to conduct a probation compliance visit, required because of his sentence in the initial case.
Kip Swadley then faced new charges as well as a revocation of his probation in the initial case.
The problem for Kip and the other Swadley family members 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, 51-year-old Kevin, younger brother Jacob, and Jacob’s then girlfriend, 30-year-old Rachel Renee Harrelson.
Harrelson pled guilty to the charges against her in January and was put on probation for 48 months. The charges against Kevin Swadley were dismissed by the state in October last year.
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, according to some sources.
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 Jacob 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 case.
Kip Swadley was sentenced to eight years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He is an inmate in the Varner Unit in Gould.
The people at the residence were all charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. As he had requested, Kip Swadley alone was charged with possession of the tattoo equipment, a Class A misdemeanor.
PUT ON PROBATION IN FEBRUARY 2020
In the probable cause affidavit for his initial case, Kip Swadley was named as one of three people allegedly 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 by an angry homeowner and in trouble with the law.
In addition to the being at the wrong house case, Garreans was also arrested on drug charges in September last year.
He pled guilty in both cases and was sentenced to 48 months in prison. He is an inmate in the Wrightsville Unit of the state prison system.
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