22-year-old sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for 2021 crime spree that ended in Spokane shooting
A 22-year-old Inchelium man was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for a three-day crime spree marked by two shootings, an armed robbery and car chase that ended in Spokane.
Dylen J. Swan pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in Indian Country and robbery affecting commerce in June.
He was sentenced to 168 months in prison by United States District Court Judge Thomas O. Rice on Wednesday and ordered to pay more than $21,000 in restitution.
The crime spree began at the Twelves Tribes Casino in Omak when Swan shot a man referred to as “M.C.” in court documents in the stomach in the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2021.
The man needed two blood transfusions and an hourslong surgery to repair his shredded intestines and bladder, according to court documents.
There was a woman in Swan’s car with him, who wanted to leave but was unable to because Swan held her at gunpoint, according to court records.
The day after the shooting, Swan robbed the downtown Spokane Rosauers, taking a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, toilet paper and other items, and pointing a gun at the store manager on the way out.
On Aug. 21, 2021, Swan got into a confrontation with a third man in a Spokane McDonald’s parking lot, shooting and injuring him.
He was arrested by a team of law enforcement officers not long after.
Federal prosecutors then charged him with the crimes committed on tribal lands.
Swan’s attorney’s argued his actions were “a reflection of an unstable, drug-laden upbringing,” noting he began using marijuana at age 7 and escalated from there, using essentially every illicit drug on a chronic basis.
They also argued that by pleading guilty he was accepting responsibility for his crimes and therefore should be sentenced to 11 years, instead of the 14 years requested by prosecutors.
Rice ultimately sided with prosecutors, sentencing Swan to 14 years.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates the seriousness of Mr. Swan’s actions and dangerousness he presented on the Colville Indian Reservation as well as in downtown Spokane,” Eastern District of Washington U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref wrote in a news release. “Mr. Swan’s dangerous crime spree lasted three days, and the victims will live with the serious physical and emotional toll of these crimes for the rest of their lives.”