A 32-year-old Kennewick man wanting to avoid going back to prison found himself in more trouble after allegedly trying to hire someone to murder a key witness.
Soloman Luke Swanson, also known as "Cowboy," offered to pay up to $5,000 to someone to kill a confidential informant set to testify in an upcoming drug trial, Benton County District Court documents said.
Swanson was out on bail in his pending drug delivery case, but on Tuesday was ordered held without bail in the Benton County jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.
He was arrested around 8:40 p.m. Monday after the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force, Kennewick police and the Benton County Sheriff's Office were tipped off about the solicitation, authorities said.
The tipster, a convicted felon who four years ago shot someone during a drug deal, reported the possible murder-for-hire case to the sheriff's office earlier Monday.
Metro was then contacted because drug detectives already were investigating Swanson, police said.
The man said Swanson had given him $100 and was to pay him $3,000 to $5,000 to kill someone expected to testify against Swanson at his trial next month, documents said.
Swanson faces a Jan. 25 trial in Benton County Superior Court on five counts of delivery of meth and one count of possession of meth with intent to manufacture/deliver. The charges also include special allegations that the crimes occurred within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop, which could double his sentence, if convicted.
Swanson was arrested in April after Metro Drug Task Force detectives set up five controlled buys with Swanson between Jan. 9 and April 16, documents said.
Each time, a confidential informant was sent into Swanson's home with money to buy meth, and would return with the drugs after about one to four minutes, documents said.
Three of the sales allegedly were made while his kids were there.
Swanson reportedly told the hired hitman the name of confidential informant, where the informant lives and a description of the informant's vehicle.
He said "he did not want to go back to prison and needed it done by Jan. 9," documents said.
An undercover investigation was quickly started and detectives got a judge's approval to put a wire on the tipster so they could record his conversation with Swanson, documents said.
The man contacted Swanson by phone, then met in person where they "discussed the planned murder, payment and other people being ready to do the job if (the hired hitman) didn't," documents said.
Additional people are being sought for questioning in connection with the investigation.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/crime/story/840475.html
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