Swadley to serve no prison time, ordered to pay $1.2M for defrauding Oklahoma tourism department

OKLAHOMA CITY – A restaurant owner convicted of defrauding the state will serve no prison time, but must pay $1.2 million in restitution, an Oklahoma County judge ordered.

Oklahoma County District Judge Cindy Truong on Thursday sentenced Brent Swadley to a suspended six-year sentence after a jury convicted him of inflating invoices related to the operation of Swadley’s Foggy Bottom restaurants at six state parks.

The jury that convicted Swadley in May of one count of conspiracy to defraud the state and five counts of giving fraudulent claims to the state had recommended he serve 10 years in prison and pay $75,000 in fines. 

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the case, had asked the court to impose the jury’s recommended prison sentence and had sought over $9 million in restitution.

But after listening to two days of arguments about the sentencing and restitution, Truong instead opted for the suspended sentences, meaning Swadley will serve no prison time, but his felony convictions will remain on his criminal record. Truong sentenced Swadley, who has denied wrongdoing, to five years for the conspiracy count to be served concurrently with four one-year sentences for fraudulent claim convictions. The fifth and final fraudulent claim conviction received a one-year sentence to be served after the first five years.

Her ruling was met with audible crying from Swadley’s family and supporters who filled the courtroom. 

Truong said while she doesn’t excuse Swadley’s actions, it wouldn’t do the public “any good” to have him spend another day in the Grady County Jail. 

“I don’t want DOC or the county to be responsible for you anymore,” she said, referring to the Department of Corrections and the county jail where he was most recently held. 

Truong said Swadley faced the brunt of the scrutiny in this case, but the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department also had failures that need to be held accountable.

Swadley was hired by the agency to renovate and operate Swadley’s Foggy Bottom restaurants at six state parks. He was accused of defrauding the state by at least $3.1 million through inflated invoices to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. 

Two other defendants in the case previously pleaded guilty. Curtis Breuklander was sentenced to 10 years probation and Timothy Hooper received five years probation.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement that Truong has “invited fraudsters like Brent Swadley to injure Oklahoma with impunity.”

“When a judge ignores years-long investigations by multiple state agencies and a jury of Oklahoma citizens who thoroughly reviewed all the evidence, public confidence in the justice system is undermined,” he said in a statement.

Leaving the Oklahoma County courtroom with his attorneys Thursday, Swadley, who had remained behind bars in county jail since the jury’s verdict, was visibly choked up as he thanked his legal team, his supporters and God. 

“This wouldn’t have happened without Him,” he said, pointing up to the ceiling. 

Truong also ordered Swadley to pay $1.2 million in restitution by Dec. 1, 2028. Swadley must also pay a $50,000 fine and $14,400 in incarceration costs by Dec. 1. 

He must complete 160 community service hours, with the first 20 completed by Dec. 1, 2027. Truong said she prefers that he complete these hours with the Diversion Hub, an Oklahoma City nonprofit, to help people learn to cook and interview for jobs. 

Robert Gifford, an attorney representing Swadley, said the sentence handed down Thursday was “appropriate.”

“Justice was done,” he said. 

Swadley plans to appeal his conviction, Gifford said.