Bill “Swanny” Swann, right, is seen in this photograph provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office after killing a wild coho.
A prominent fishing guide from Southwest Washington has once again found himself in hot water in the courts for crimes related to his paid angling endeavors.
On March 29, Bill Jim Swann, 53, of Rainier, Washington, was convicted in U.S. District Court on charges related to a disability fraud scheme. Over the course of a three-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan, Swann was ultimately found to be guilty of perjury, wire fraud, and Social Security fraud that spanned an eight year period.
In 2016, Swann, proprietor of Swanny’s Guided Fishing, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the endangered species act, and was fined $7,500. That guilty plea came after Swann was accused of illegally harvesting two wild coho salmon on the Cowlitz River while he was out on a paid guide trip. After video and photos of the fish in question surfaced on the internet, Swann was accused of cutting off the adipose fins of the fish in order to make them appear as if they were clipped hatchery stock, which is legal for harvest.
Swann did not return a phone call from The Chronicle seeking comment on the most recent convictions.
In August of 2017, when the most recent round of charges was brought forth, Swann told The Chronicle that he felt unfairly targeted by law enforcement and the courts.
“What they tried to do is attach what’s going on right now to the previous illegal killing of wild coho,” insisted Swann at the time. “I’m on their radar and they’re trying to get me for any little thing that they can get me for.”
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office noted that the fraud scheme was indeed uncovered during the 2016 investigation into Swann’s killing of wild coho on the Cowlitz River. Back in August in federal court, Swann pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, Social Security fraud and perjury.
“We’re going to fight this all the way. It’s just ridiculous. If there’s a way they can make a pebble into a mountain, they will,” said Swann at the time. “That’s what the feds do is try to pile it on and stick as many things to you as they can so that you’ll plead down to something smaller. That’s just what they do.”
The charges that Swann was found guilty of last week alleged that he applied for disability benefits and claimed he could not work regularly, all while guiding up to 300 fishing trips a year in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. The charges contend that he netted more than $750,000 between 2006 and 2016 through his guided fishing service.
Swann has adamantly denied making that much money, or working as much as he was accused. However, the U.S. Attorney’s office argued in court that Swann’s profitable outfit was detailed in newspapers, magazines, online and on the radio at the very same time that he was claiming to be disabled.
Court case files show that Swann applied for Social Security disability benefits in 2006 and claimed that his disability had prevented him from working since 2003. When that application was denied Swann appealed and swore before an administrative law judge that his only employment was as a volunteer for a few weeks in the summer at an Alaska fishing camp.
After that appeal was denied Swann filed a new appeal in U.S. District Court, which the U.S. Attorney’s office argued was also full of falsehoods about his alleged disabilities. Those disabilities he claimed supposedly left him unable to walk, climb stairs and use his hands. Swann claimed that an accident in 2003 also impaired his cognitive function.
Although Swann was never successful in his attempts to receive disability benefits, a press release from the U.S. Attorney General’s office noted that Swann and his family would have received more than $200,000 in benefits if his scheme had been successful.
Back in August, Swann argued that since he had never received any money he had no choice but to work. He also wondered how he could be guilty when he never received any payments from Social Security.
“It would be a different story if I’d received Social Security and disability benefits, but they’re saying I was planning a scheme … There wasn’t no scheme being planned out whatsoever,” Swann previously told The Chronicle.
Perjury and Social Security Fraud carry a maximum prison term of up to five years, while wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Swann is set to be sentenced on June 22.
