| Greenville News
A former Greenville police officer linked to a high-profile drug trafficking conspiracy was included in a massacre of presidential pardons and commissions made by Donald Trump in the final hours of his presidency on Tuesday.
Brian McSwain, a former Greenville city police officer, served an 18-month sentence for a crime committed in the early 1990s. US Senator Lindsey Graham, two former South Carolina District Attorneys and other officers supported forgiveness, according to a White House statement.
McSwain was one of more than 20 co-defendants accused of a federal drug conspiracy involving the son of former South Carolina governor Dick Riley in 1992. Richard Riley Jr. was one of 26 people accused of the scheme. cocaine trafficking, according to archived media reports from The Greenville News.
McSwain pleaded guilty in 1993 to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of probation.
McSwain was one of 12 people who pleaded guilty to the crimes, and each person faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $ 1 million fine.
Authorities at the time called the conspiracy a decade-long anti-drug operation run by middle and upper class residents of Greenville, according to The Greenville News archives.
According to a written statement from the White House on pardons, McSwain was employed on a pay basis and was passed over for several promotion opportunities due to his conviction for a crime.
McSwain joined the Greenville Police Department in 1987 and was fired in 1992 for “unfavorable circumstances”, according to his training file obtained at the state’s Academy of Criminal Justice. The records do not specify the nature of these circumstances, although the termination occurred in the same year as his federal indictment. He graduated from Pickens High School, according to the training file.
Graham made the initial recommendation to Trump for McSwain’s forgiveness, according to Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Graham.
Graham also supported David Rowland’s forgiveness. Rowland’s asbestos removal license expired when he agreed to remove asbestos at an elementary school. He received two years of probation for violating the Clean Air Act, says the White House statement.
According to the statement, Rowland is sorry and worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation after completing his mandatory community service.
Overall, Trump has granted forgiveness to 73 people in one of his final actions as 45th president.
Another Greenville man, Monstsho Eugene Vernon, had his sentence commuted. Vernon served more than 19 years in prison for committing a series of armed bank robberies in Greenville in 2000. Evidence showed that his crimes involved carrying BB guns instead of firearms.
While incarcerated, Vernon worked constantly and recovered from an outbreak of cancer, according to the White House statement.
Vernon had a release date scheduled for January 27, 2035. He was being held in a low-level federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons online records.
According to a pardon from the United States Department of Justice and switching records, a request for Vernon’s switching was denied by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Early in his life, Vernon graduated from basic training in the Marine Corps at Parris Island, a Navy training center in Beaufort County, according to an article filed by Greenville News on March 28, 1995. He graduated from Travelers Rest High School in 1993, according to the article.
Vernon was one of 70 individuals who received commuted sentences, according to the statement.
Another pardon, for Carl Andrews Boggs, was supported by South Carolina Department of Transportation chairman Tony Cox.
Boggs is a North Carolina road construction contractor who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in 2013. He faced federal charges in North Carolina, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to a report by the Office of the Inspector General of South Carolina.
Since then, Boggs has rebuilt his company, employed hundreds of people and devoted countless hours and financial resources to his community, according to the White House statement.
Daniel J. Gross is an investigative surveillance reporter with a focus on public safety and law enforcement for Greenville News. Talk to him at [email protected] or on Twitter @danieljgross.