Sex Offender Sentenced to Prison for Violating the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gary Allen Swift Jr., 62, was sentenced today to one year and nine months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for failure to provide information related to interstate travel as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

According to court documents and statements made in court, from on or about July 1, 2023 through on or about February 6, 2024, Swift failed to register or update his registration as required by SORNA after he relocated to West Virginia from Iowa.

Swift traveled from Iowa to Huntington, West Virginia, following his conviction for failing to register as a sex offender in Scott County, Iowa, District Court on January 4, 2023. On April 7, 2023, Swift was convicted in Cabell County Magistrate Court for failing to register as a sex offender in West Virginia. Swift then moved from Huntington to Charleston, where he continued his pattern of failing to register until February 2024, resulting in his prosecution by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Swift is required to register as a sex offender and comply with SORNA because of his convictions for first-degree sexual abuse in Nicholas County, West Virginia, Circuit Court on March 18, 1986, and criminal sexual assault in Rock Island, Illinois, Circuit Court on November 20, 2006.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the United States Marshals Service (USMS).

Chief United States District Judge Thomas E. Johnston imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case.

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs, in part by requiring registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:24-cr-27.

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