MURDER USA: Repeat DWI driver and career criminal Joseph Marvin Swann killed another motorist in a speed and alcohol crash; victim Ian Tahtinen died in a fiery inferno

MURDER USA: Repeat DWI driver and career criminal Joseph Marvin Swann killed another motorist in speed and alcohol crash; victim Ian Tahtinen died in fiery inferno

CHARLOTTE HALL, MD. – A motorist with a long criminal record including a prior DWI conviction, who police say was speeding and drinking slammed into another vehicle on December 20, 2020, at approximately 12:24 a.m., causing that vehicle to wreck and burst into flames which consumed the innocent driver.

Deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department responded to the crash in the northbound lanes on Rt. 5 in the area of the Farmer’s Market just prior to Golden Beach Road in Charlotte Hall, Md., for the crash.

When Deputies arrived on the scene, they found both involved vehicles on fire and quickly doused the infernos, discovering that one of the motorists was dead, having burned alive.

The Deputies determined a 2004 Cadillac CTS, operated by Joseph Marvin Swann, 39, (DOB 04/12/1981) of 2668 Homette Place, Waldorf, was traveling northbound on Leonardtown Road (Rt. 5) at a high rate of speed when the Cadillac struck a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee, also traveling northbound, operated by Ian Raymond Tahtinen, 23, of Waldorf. The impact caused both vehicles to catch fire and leave the roadway. Police say that Tahtinen died in the wreckage.

Career Dirtbag Sped into Victim and Crashed, Burning Him Alive

Swann was transported to an area hospital with incapacitating injuries.

According to St. Mary’s Sheriff Tim Cameron, speed and alcohol/drugs are considered contributing factors in the collision.

From Cherie Banks, mother of Ian: The first photo is his final day walking out the door to work, by that night he was gone.

Donate to the funeral fund

 Anyone who witnessed the collision or any events leading to the collision is asked to contact Deputy First Class Jason Smith at (301) 475-4200 extension 72328 or by email at Jason.Smith@stmarysmd.com.

Charles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy A. Bringley arrested Swann for DWI on January 7, 2016, as he operated Pontiac on Rt. 301 at Billingsly Road in White Plains, Md.  In a plea deal with Charles County States Attorney Anthony Covington, Swann entered a guilty plea on May 3, 2016.

Swann was sentenced to 18 months in jail following his guilty plea to two second-degree assault counts of a criminal indictment in Charles County Circuit Court on January 13, 2020.  As part of the plea deal with Charles County States Attorney Anthony Covington, a felony robbery charge was dropped.  The deal approved by Covington provided for a sentence of ten years in prison with all, but eighteen months suspended to allow Swann to serve his time in the Charles County Jail, a virtual country club setting in comparison to the Maryland prison system.  Court records show Swann was committed to the Jail on January 28, 2020, and court records are unclear as to the date he was released or why. Court records show a new hearing in the matter was postponed five times in 2020 as court schedules were in a continued state of upheaval due to the Covid pandemic with a new hearing set for April 15, 2021.

• RECORD:
• Assault on a correctional officer,
• burglary,
• DWI,
• property destruction,
• theft,
• robbery

The indictment on the charges originated with an arrest by Charles County Sheriffs Department Deputy P. Monaghan on June 12, 2019.  The taxpayers of Maryland have been providing Swann with free lawyers for these charges.

St. Mary’s Sheriff Deputy Shawn Shelko charged Swann with second-degree assault when he shoved a St. Mary’s correctional officer in the St. Mary’s County Jail on August 1, 2017.  The criminal charge was forwarded to St. Mary’s Circuit Court when a Grand Jury indicted Swann on September 8, 2017.  In a plea deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Richard Fritz on March 20, 2018, Swann was sentenced to five years in prison with all but one year suspended which allowed Swann to remain at the St. Mary’s Jail where he could learn the fine art of acquiring prison tattoos.   Swann was found to be in violation of his probation on April 3, 2020.

Joseph Marvin Swann entered a guilty plea to felony first-degree burglary on November 30, 2006, and was sentenced to 260 days in the Charles County Jail.

A guilty plea to felony theft in Charles County Circuit Court earned Swann a three-year sentence on August 7, 2000. Two other charges, for auto theft and property destruction, were dropped as part of a plea deal.

Reader Comments

From Cherie Banks: This was my son this man killed and our family is forever changed. He took my amazing son who was just as gentle and kind as a human could be. I want Swann in prison for life, I pray the remainder of his life is misery and dread.

From Easton, Md.: If it was the Judge’s or States Attorney’s family member this guy killed, would all of the past and future sentencing be the same?  Who didn’t do their job – parole and probation, the States Attorney, the judges, or the court?  Where is the accountability or name of THAT person to connect to this story and the failures that led to this?  Always brushed aside – until the next crash.

From Leonardtown, Md.: Over and over and over.   It’s a game for cops, prosecutors, and defense counsel.

From: David B. Wright

I cannot speak for the defense attorney’s, nor the States Attorney, but being a retired officer of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office I am confident in assuring you that lenient sentences handed down by Judges or plea deals arranged between Defense
Attorney’s and States Attorney’s rarely involve any asking, or checking with the arresting officer as to their thoughts. Instead, the officer finds out through his upcoming court appearance schedules that there will be a plea and the officer need not appear or needs to appear, for the formality of the court hearing.

Defense Attorney’ meeting with States Attorney’s to arrange for a guilty plea by their client is proper and necessary or the cost for trials, more juries, and judges would greatly increase to the taxpayers. But there also must be accountability at the ballot box for how judicious the reduction of charges are and if they serve the will of the citizens, not just the assembly line moving belt of cases. That falls strictly on the judgment of the States Attorney and no one else.

Perhaps it is time for the voters to take a closer look at the decisions to reduce charges in exchange for a guilty plea by their States Attorney’s Offices and decide if those decisions reflect their own belief of what justice should be!

Death To WHITE TRASH

Joseph Marvin Swann = Prototypical Southern Maryland WHITE TRASH!!! A direct descendent of the criminals and mental patients kicked out of England 250-300+ years ago. Southern Maryland and the Eastern shore are filled with these parasites. He should be publicly EXECUTED!!!