Pat Swindall obit

Pat Swindall, pioneering evangelical congressman who served prison time, dies at 67

 

He was not on the list.

Patrick "Pat" Lynn Swindall, Sr., age 67 of Johns Creek, GA passed on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. A visitation will be held from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at Crowell Brothers Funeral Homes & Crematory. The memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 15, 2018 at 2:30 PM, at The Vine Community Church in Cumming, GA.

Patrick Lynn Swindall was born on October 18, 1950 in Gadsden, Etawah County, Alabama to the late Nathan Edward Swindall, also born in Gadsden, Alabama, and the late former June Theresa Parker of Lynn, Massachusetts.

He attended the public schools of Atlanta, Dekalb County, Georgia, graduating from Briarcliff Highschool in 1968. In June, 1972, Mr. Swindall graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia with a degree in Arts & Sciences, having majored in Political Science, and again in March, 1975, receiving his Juris Doctorate. He was a "Double Dawg."

In April 1979, at the age of 28, Mr. Swindall became a partner in Heyman & Sizemore, their youngest partner to date.

Mr. Swindall continued in Partnership until December 31, 1983, when he resigned to run and represent the Fourth District of Georgia in the United States Congress. In November, 1984, Mr. Swindall defeated Mr. Levitas ,in a race that was labeled by national and local media as one of the "biggest upsets in the Country." As a Freshman Congressperson, Mr. Swindall was selected to join "Chowder and Marching," a Republican leadership group, which membership was by selection only.

He was re-elected in November 1986, but then defeated for re-election for his third term, after a politically motivated indictment by then U.S. Attorney Bob Barr, a mere three weeks before Election Day in 1988 (Mr. Swindall having vociferously opposed Mr. Barr's appointment to the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, in 1985).

A year after the indictment , Mr. Swindall was convicted of ten counts of perjury. The perjury accounts all arose from the questions Mr. Swindall was asked about in two meetings he had with a former political supporter, Charles Lechasney, and an IRS undercover agent, Mike Mullaney, in 1987, during a US Government organized sting operation. Key tapes and transcripts were suppressed by the prosecution during the trial, in an obstruction of justice, and only were uncovered by Swindall, after the trial and conviction.

After serving a 12 month sentence, Mr Swindall went into commercial real estate to support his family, as well as hosted a radio show on Atlanta's WNIV 1400 am, the topic of his show being "where politics and religion converge" , his two favorite subjects.

At the time of his sudden passing, he was working on an in depth book detailing his sting and cover up, linking it to the larger systemic corruption in the us political and governmental system.

He believed his family to be his greatest achievement in this physical life, and his passion for truth and justice, his greatest motivation.

He is survived by the Love of his Life and Wife of 36 years, Kimberly S. Swindall; as well as his Seven Bees (children): Kelley Alice Swindall (33), Patrick Lynn Swindall (31), Jr., Meghan Swindall Greene (30), Mackenzie Helen Swindall (28), Caitlin June Swindall (27), Ryan Frank Swindall (26), and Molly Nan Swindall (24), and Son-inLaws, Brian Michael Greene (35) and Stanley (Buddy) Dymeck (31)

Brothers, David Swindall (Linda), Kevin Swindall (Marilyn) and Philip Swindall (Barbara); several nieces and nephews, and his Parents In Law , Frank & Helen Schiesser. He is pre deceased by his devoted sister, Theresa Swindall .

Former Congressman Pat Swindall, whose church-centered campaigning pioneered modern evangelical politics in Georgia, and whose Washington career was cut short by a federal perjury conviction, died Wednesday. He was 67.

Robb Austin, who worked on Swindall's campaigns and served as his chief of staff, posted to Facebook that the Republican died in his sleep. Swindall's obituary said his death came as he was working on a book about the "sting and cover up" that led to his political downfall, "linking it to the larger systemic corruption in the U.S. political and governmental system."

An attorney and former student body president at the University of Georgia, Swindall stormed the state.

Born in Gadsden, Alabama, as a youth Swindall worked in and later managed his father Nathan's Atlanta Furniture Store on the corner of Butler (today Jesse Hill Jr. Drive) and Decatur Streets. He earned a B.A. from the University of Georgia in 1972 and obtained his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1975. After law school he practiced law with Heyman & Sizemore and, in April 1979, at the age of 28, became its youngest partner to that date. He practiced law in Atlanta until December 31, 1983, when he resigned to run for Congress.

In 1984, with Robb Austin as his campaign manager, Swindall defeated five term Democratic congressman Elliott H. Levitas by six percentage points, an upset election considering Levitas was elected with relative ease since his first election in 1974. He won by a similar margin against actor Ben L. Jones in 1986. However, after being indicted for perjury, Swindall lost in a rematch with Jones in 1988 by a 20-point margin.

Swindall voted against the Abandoned Shipwrecks Act of 1987. The Act asserts United States title to certain abandoned shipwrecks located on or embedded in submerged lands under state jurisdiction, and transfers title to the respective state, thereby empowering states to manage these cultural and historical resources more efficiently, with the goal of preventing treasure hunters and salvagers from damaging them. Despite his vote against it, President Ronald Reagan signed it into law on April 28, 1988.

In October 1988, Swindall was indicted on ten counts of perjury related to a money laundering scheme. In recorded dealings with an undercover IRS agent posing as a representative of the Colombian drug cartel, Swindall was told that the $850,000 loan he was seeking to finish building his luxury home included illegal drug money and that he would be part of an operation to "wash" cash. Swindall proposed that an associate set up a mortgage company to funnel the money through.

During an ensuing investigation into the illegal drug trade, Swindall lied to a federal grand jury about his knowledge that the funds were from a drug trafficking operation, which was refuted by the undercover tapes. While one of the perjury charges was dismissed by District Judge Richard C. Freeman, the jury convicted Swindall on nine counts and sentenced him to one year in prison and a fine of $30,450. Swindall's friend, Congressman Barney Frank testified on Swindall's behalf.

On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned three of the counts, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn the remaining six and he began serving his one-year sentence in 1994. He was disbarred by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1996.

Upon his release from prison on February 9, 1995, Swindall hosted a religious-themed conservative radio show on the Providence Broadcasting Network. His show's motto was "Where religion and politics converge." When the Providence Broadcasting Network ceased operations, Swindall announced that he was going to "pursue a prison ministry." Swindall was the owner of multiple businesses in Atlanta and College Park.

In June 2009, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Swindall and two of his fired employees for making illegal campaign contributions to Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd. The businessmen were indicted for making false statements because Swindall was the actual source of the contributions not as reported on Sheperd's campaign disclosure forms as coming from other people, including family and friends of the two former employees. In 2011 the charges were reduced from the felony charges to three misdemeanors. Swindall pleaded no contest to two counts of exceeding the maximum allowable campaign contribution and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and was sentenced one year of probation.

In November 2009, he was involved in a confrontation with former tenants at a flea market location he owned and had formerly leased to them; Swindall left after College Park code enforcement officers and police arrived. He wanted to remove the walls that delineate the individual stalls within the flea market. Swindall also wanted to remove other structures belonging to him, but the request was denied by the College Park Police.

Swindall was married to former Duke University cheerleader Kimberly Schiesser; together they had seven children. During his time in Congress the two were called the "Barbie and Ken of Politics"