The trial date’s been set for a former police chief in western Iowa charged in connection with a bank robbery in Cass County. Forty-year old Richard Dean Swope, of Atlantic, entered a plea of “not guilty” to charges of bank robbery “by force or violence” and the use of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, in U.S. District Court.
Late last month, a central Iowa jury indicted Swope on a charge of bank robbery, in connection with an August eighth heist at the First National Bank in Anita. The former Anita Police Chief allegedly ordered the bank manager to the floor and fired a shot from a pistol in the direction of the manager, but no one was injured. His jury trial was set for October second. If convicted, he could face up to 30-years in jail.