DES MOINES MAN SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MAILING DEATH THREAT TO JUDGE
United States Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker announces that Robert E. Swanson, formerly of Des Moines, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls, SD on Thursday, July 2, 2009 to 96 months imprisonment for mailing a death threat to Northern District of Iowa Chief Judge Linda Reade in June 2008.
Though Swanson initially faced only 24 - 30 months in prison under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines, the court granted the government’s motion for an upward variance on the grounds that Swanson’s criminal history category substantially underrepresented the seriousness of his criminal history and the likelihood he would commit other crimes. Swanson’s 1974 rape conviction in Wapello County, his 1980 sexual abuse conviction in Black Hawk County, and his 1986 assault conviction in Lee County did not originally count toward his criminal history under the guidelines because they were so long ago.
The government successfully argued that it was Swanson’s lengthy periods of incarceration and custody, including federal time from 1988 through 2001 for mailing a threatening letter to state judge Peter Van Metre, and state civil commitment since 2002 for being a sexually violent predator, that skewed his history and made him seem less dangerous than he really was.
The court concluded that the properly-adjusted guideline range was between 77 and 96 months, and sentenced Swanson to 96 months, finding that this sentence was warranted based on the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, and the need to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant.
Swanson was sentenced by South Dakota U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence L. Piersol, after the sitting judges of the Northern District of Iowa recused themselves due to Judge Reade’s status as the victim of the offense.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Marshals Service, and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Peyton Gaumer.