Charges against Swanson dropped

By MATT MILNER Courier staff writer

June 24, 2008 12:51 am

— OTTUMWA — A judge has dismissed all charges against former Ottumwa Cemetery superintendent Bob Swanson.
Prosecutors asked that the judge throw out the seven counts against Swanson. Steven Gardner, Swanson’s attorney, said the court did just that at 10:15 a.m. Monday.
Gardner said he expected the state’s decision.
“We felt confident that once an objective review of the facts in was made ... the charges would be dismissed,” he said.
A statement issued by Virginia Barchman and the Iowa Attorney General’s office said pursuing the charges is not appropriate and that evidence to support the charges is missing.
The charges were filed by former county attorney Mark Tremmel shortly before he left office to take a position with the U.S. Attorney’s office. State prosecutors did not mention Tremmel by name, but were clearly unimpressed with the case.
“Had we received the documents and reports in this matter before charges were filed, we would have exercised our discretion and declined to prosecute,” the statement said.
Swanson faced seven counts, including falsifying documents to take possession of 12 burial plots, altering records and faking time sheets for two cemetery employees. The allegations stemmed from a state audit.
The cemetery plots were at the center of the case against Swanson, and prosecutors say there is “no evidence” of such a theft. The state said the cemetery board’s 2005 decision to formally allocate Swanson the spaces removed any previous confusion.
Prosecutors did find “fairly obvious changes” in cemetery records, including missing originals, altered receipts and a lack of documentation. But this does not add up to criminal intent in the state’s view. That undermines the indictment.
“As stated above, there is no legal basis for the charges arising from Mr. Swanson's ownership of the 12 cemetery spaces. Further, there is no indication in the evidence available to us that Mr. Swanson benefited personally from his efforts to raise the pay of two seasonal employees from $8 to $9 per hour. It also is notable that, following Mr. Swanson’s separation from his employment as Superintendent, the successor Superintendent was able to pay these employees at the increased rate by more acceptable means. In my view, the receipt of personal benefit is evidence of criminal intent, which is lacking in this case,” Barchman wrote.
Proscutors said the charges involving falsification of two employees’ time sheets was the result of Swanson’s attempt to give them a raise despite the fact that both employees were at the top of their pay grade. They said Swanson sought advice from a member of the cemetery board and was told “handle it.”
The overtime paid to the employees was not worked, and effectively raised their wages to $9 per hour.
Recent anomalies in the case suggested something unusual was under way. Judges granted several continuances, the most recent on June 9, but there was no trial date set to reflect those continuances.
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com