PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A 44-year-old man who has been deemed a “dangerous offender” will have to spend at least 26.5 years in prison after he forced a man to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint.
James R. Swearingen was sentenced on Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
The sentencing comes nearly 8 months after a jury convicted Swearingen of first-degree sodomy, unlawful use of a weapon, coercion and fourth-degree assault.
The reason there was such as large gap in time in between conviction and sentencing was because Swearingen had requested a new attorney and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office sought an enhanced sentencing – meaning they wanted a harsher penalty. A special hearing was held in January and Swearingen was found to be a dangerous offender. It was also determined that he is likely unable to ever be rehabilitated.
Swearingen forced a 67-year-old man to perform oral sex on him while at a homeless camp near Cartlandia in SE Portland in August 2015.
“The defendant’s use of the firearm went beyond a simple threat,” prosecutors stated in court documents. “He placed the gun [to the victim’s] head, fired at least one shot off into the distance, and pulled the trigger while the gun was pointed at [the victim].”
Under the state’s dangerous offender statute, prosecutors can seek an enhanced sentencing for certain criminal offenses.
Among other factors, the jury and judge found that Swearingen poses a serious danger to the life and safety of others.
The sentence Swearingen received is a bit different than traditional cases.
Multnomah County deputy district attorney Melissa Marrero asked the judge to sentence Swearingen to a minimum of 26 years before he is considered eligible for parole, and asked that Swearingen receive an indeterminate sentence of 60 years in prison.
On Wednesday, Judge Kelly Skye granted both requests.The sentencing breaks down as follows:
Swearingen will have to serve at least 26 years in prison before he is ever eligible to apply for parole.
After those 26 years pass, if the parole board were to deny Swearingen parole each time he requested it, he would ultimately be released on his 60th year in prison, making him roughly 104 years old.
In court documents Marrero wrote that the victim “begged for his life, but when the trauma became too much…he told [Swearingen] he could just kill him because [the victim] was no longer willing to continue his sexual victimization.”
The victim was eventually saved from the attack by a woman who happened upon the “gruesome” scene. That woman, records show, repeatedly hit Swearingen with a large stick.
Swearingen made no apology in court on Wednesday.
At the hearing in January, he maintained his innocence.