Published: November 20, 2008 08:47 am      

Swafford gets 2-year prison sentence

Time for stolen property to be served concurrently with drug-trafficking charge

By Sean Bailey / Staff Writer

A longtime convicted Whitley County bootlegger-turned pill dealer was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday in Whitley County Circuit Court for allegedly receiving a stolen tractor-trailer.

Boyd Swafford, 58, is already expecting to receive a two-year sentence in federal court for maintaining a place for distributing controlled substances.

Whitley County Circuit Judge Paul Braden ordered that Swafford serve his state charges — receiving stolen property — concurrently with his federal drug trafficking prison term. Judge Braden also credited Swafford 49 days for the time he has already spent in jail.

Swafford entered in an Alford plea on the state’s receiving stolen property charges. An Alford plea means that Swafford maintains his innocence, but understands that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Swafford is set for formal sentencing in U.S. District Court in London on Dec. 8.

Swafford’s attorney, David Hoskins, said since Swafford is in poor health due to diabetes and heart problems, he will likely spend his prison time at a federal medical center in Lexington.

In August, Swafford pleaded guilty in federal court to using and maintaining a place for distributing controlled substances. Swafford’s guilty plea was part of a plea agreement that dismissed two other charges of money laundering and conspiracy.

Legal action was halted several times due to Swafford’s argument that he was too sick to stand trial.

According to the federal plea, Swafford financially benefitted from a drug distribution ring operated between January 2004 and Feb. 5, 2005 from his garage on McNeil Corn Creek Road in Rockholds.

Swafford and other members of the ring were arrested by detectives from Operation UNITE after a raid on his home and two adjacent properties.