Copyright 2012 The Daily Post-Athenian
Distributed by Newsbank, Inc. All Rights Reserved
By Dewey Morgan
The Daily Post-Athenian
MORGAN COUNTY, Tenn. — Criminal charges against former McMinn County corrections officer Justin Swafford have been dismissed.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Stutts noted Monday that the state could no longer pursue the charges against Swafford because the alleged victim could not be located.
Swafford was set to go on trial Thursday on a charge that he had inappropriate conduct with a female inmate in May.
However, the alleged victim, who was being held at the Morgan County Correctional Complex, recently released from jail and has disappeared. Attempts to locate her were unsuccessful.
Without the victim’s testimony, the state was unable to go through with the prosecution of Swafford, so his case was dismissed.
Swafford was accused of going into the women’s portion of the jail without female supervision and having sexual contact with an inmate.
He was fired from his position after he was indicted in May after being employed by the sheriff’s department since Dec. 25, 2010.
The trial of Matthew Campbell was moved back as well on Monday.
Campbell was originally set to go on trial Tuesday on second degree murder charges, but his trial has been delayed until Feb. 11, 2013.
Campbell is accused of selling oxycodone to Jason Hampton, who subsequently died as a result of ingesting too many of the drugs at once.
Hampton reportedly consumed all of the pills after he and his friends were pulled over in a traffic stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol and McMinn County Sheriff’s Department officers.
According to Tennessee law, a person can be charged with second-degree murder if the drugs he or she sold caused someone’s death.
Campbell’s co-defendant, Marvin Collins, pled guilty on Monday as well.
As a result of the plea, Collins was found guilty of facilitating the delivery of a schedule II drug and conspiracy to deliver a schedule II drug.
Collins had gone with Hampton, Carrie Robinson, and Randy Collins to Cleveland to purchase the drugs.
According to court documents, Collins agreed to “testify at any trial of Matthew Campbell in keeping with statements previously given to police,” and in return his four years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections was reduced to four years of probation and a $1,000 fine.
Collins had faced two years in prison for each charge, but now faces two years probation for each.