Man Pleads Guilty To Being Murder Accomplice

A Prairie Grove man pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 in Washington County Circuit Court to being an accomplice to first degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Ronnie Lee Bradley of Prairie Grove.

John Threet, Washington County prosecuting attorney, said Anthony Allen Swinford, 35, pleaded guilty before Judge William Storey and was sentenced to 40 years on the murder conviction and 40 years for the kidnapping conviction, with both sentences to run consecutively. He will serve both terms in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Threet said it would be 56 years before Swinford would be eligible for parole.

If a jury had found Sw in fo rd guilty of the charges, he would have faced either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole for first degree murder.

Bradley’s body was discovered the morning of Dec. 27, 2012, in the driveway of 17409 Four Corners Road in rural southwest Washington County.

An arrest report said Bradley, 48, appeared to have been severely beaten and his body left in the driveway.

Swinford was one of four people charged in the beating death. The others facing charges are Timothy William Swinford, 37, Heather Swain, 36, and James Patton, 35, all of Prairie Grove. Each was charged with accomplice to capital murder and kidnapping. The other three defendants face either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted on the accomplice to capital murder charge and 10 to 40 years or life on the kidnapping charge.

They are scheduled for trial Jan. 13, 2014.

Threet said Anthony Swinford was not willing to testify against the other three defendants. He said Swinford did not have an incentive to testify against them because of the sentence he received as part of the plea bargain.

In court Tuesday, Anthony Swinford testified that the five people, including Brad- ley, were out driving and drinking that night, Threet said. Threet said Anthony Swinford testified there was a fight and that Bradley was hit several times and he “eventually died from those injuries.”

Threet said Swinford did not talk about a motive and Threet said he could not discuss a possible motive because of the pending trial for the other three defendants. He said Swinford did not say what the fight was about.

The three remaining defendants are being held without bond in the Washington County Detention Center. All three face additional charges. Prosecutors haven’t decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case against the remaining defendants.

Swinford