Prison time ordered for shooting in New Phila
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Jan. 9, 2025) – A Uhrichsville man will serve a mandatory three years in prison and up to 17.5 total for shooting and critically injuring a 41-year-old while on parole.
Chance Swaney, 28, received the punishment Wednesday after pleading guilty to five counts including felonious assault and attempted murder and having three others dismissed. Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Elizabeth Thomakos handed down the sentence and five others before it, admonishing Swaney for refusing to address his substance use issues and choosing a life of crime.
“You have not responded favorably to any of the attempts to make a difference in your life with the sanctions imposed. You continued criminal behaviors of escalating seriousness despite the imposed sanctions including prior prison.”
Police have described the June 26th shooting at a New Philadelphia intersection as drug related, happening after the vehicle Swaney was riding in crashed into an embankment the one carrying the victim pulled up next to it. Assistant Prosecutor Lacee Felix read a statement from the woman, who suffered two gunshot wounds to the left arm, one to the chest, and now lives with a bullet lodged in her heart.
“The victim put in her statement: ‘Chance Swaney almost killed me for a senseless $270.”
Swaney was released from prison less than two months earlier after serving over two years for burglary and other crimes.