Terre Haute inmate sentenced to additional 32 months for assaulting correctional officer
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WISH) — Dustin Swanda, 36, of Minnesota was sentenced to 32 additional months in federal prison after pleading guilty to assaulting a federal officer.
In 2009, Swanda was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. On December 31, 2020, Swanda was housed at the Terre Haute Federal Correctional Institution.
On that day, correctional officers conducted routine security sweeps, including checks of the bars and windows in each cell. This requires inmates to leave their cells for a short period of time. When an officer asked Swanda to step out of his cell, he refused to comply. The officer observed Swanda “moving like a zombie,” staring at a wall, and making slurred noises. The officer believed Swanda was intoxicated and called for backup.
When instructed to leave his cell again, Swanda became unstable and continued to resist instructions. Officers attempted to physically remove Swanda out of his cell and he resisted officers by kicking his legs and punching an officer in the face. One officer was taken to a local hospital for a broken finger.
After the case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. District Court Judge Hanlon ordered that the sentence be served consecutively to the sentence Swanda is already serving, and also ordered that Swanda pay a $500 fine.
