Attorneys for the former Anita police chief, who’s accused of robbing a bank, want the evidence in his case thrown out. In a motion filed late last week, federal public defenders for 41-year-old Richard Dean Swope, of Atlantic, alleged that an Atlantic Police Lieutenant entered Swope’s home without a search warrant, following the August eighth, 2006 robbery at the First National Bank in Anita.
Swope’s attorney says the lieutenant and a Cass County sheriff’s deputy questioned Swope for hours prior to placing him under arrest. During the questioning, Swope made incriminating statements. The officers obtained a search warrant after initially contacting Swope and seized guns, clothing and cash.
In the application filed for the warrant, police said they were looking for five-to six-thousand dollars, but the inventory does not list how much was found. Swope is currently being held in the Newton Correctional Facility, facing charges of bank robbery and the use of a firearm to commit a felony. His trial is set to begin April 30th. If convicted of the charges, he could face up to 30 years in jail.