CALEDONIA – A Caledonia drug dealer received a state prison sentence on Tuesday, his second felony sentence in recent years. His previous sentence, in August 2003, was highly negotiable, and he was released after serving minimal time.
However, when Bryan Swartz was arrested in January 2014 for selling a whopping one pound of marijuana to an undercover Livingston County Drug Task Force officer at the A-Plus gas station convenience store in Caledonia, the court finally decided that Swartz had exhausted his second chances. He was sentenced to one and a half years in state prison, plus two years post-release supervision.
“I hope you appreciate how many friends and family in court today care for you, and continue to come out to support you,” said County Judge Robert Wiggins. “You truly are fortunate. I hope that this is the end of this foolishness for you.”
Undercover officers made several narcotics purchases from Swartz prior to his second felony arrest on January 3. Upon his arrest, they seized Swartz’ drug money, amounting to $8,440, and 2008 Jeep Patriot, which he used for drug deals. Swartz must return the $2,480 that the Drug Task Force paid for the marijuana, and pay an additional $760 in restitution upon his eventual release.
The Drug Task Force is an unprecedented combined effort by law enforcement and the District Attorney’s Office to cut down drug trafficking, which Sheriff Thomas Dougherty has said he believes to be the root cause of most violent crimes in Livingston County.
Both Sheriff Dougherty and DA Greg McCaffrey have been major proponents for the Drug Task Force from its beginning, and continue to strongly support it as more and more drug dealers are arrested. McCaffrey said that his office will continue to seek state prison sentences for anyone who sells drugs in Livingston County.
The Task Force consists of committed members of Sheriff Dougherty’s Office, Avon, Caledonia, Geneseo, Mount Morris, and Nunda Police Departments, New York State Park Police, and Livingston County District Attorney Greg McCaffrey’s Office, with support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Unit.