*Author’s notes:
Part 1 of this article can be accessed at the following link: https://www.hernandosun.com/2025/02/12/justice-for-all/
The name of the subject of this interview and that of his family members have been changed to protect his privacy. Other details have not been revealed or have been kept general, as well.
After Carl Swanson was arrested in 2018 for Aggravated Assault with a Firearm and Domestic Battery, he was pressured into resigning from the sheriff’s department where he had served for 14 years. Swanson was Baker Acted and spent 72 hours in a mental health facility and also voluntarily participated in a 28-day inpatient program.
He had intended to fight the charges because, according to Swanson, the alleged battery never took place. Also, when he fired one shot into the wall, there was no one else in the house. The only reason he had the firearm was that he wanted to commit suicide. Swanson states that he never pointed the gun at anybody and willingly dropped the weapon after he stepped outside.
An attorney convinced him to take a plea bargain because, he would probably have ended up spending months in jail awaiting trial and, in the end, could lose his case. Swanson’s father had passed away the year before which had added to his stress and he didn’t want to put his mother through the strain of a trial. The court sentenced him to three years’ probation and his attorney told him that if he completed his probation it would all be over and he would not be considered a felon.
During the ensuing months, Carl attended classes and counseling at the Veterans’ HEAT Factory (VHF)−a local nonprofit organization, founded by businessman Gus Guadagnino, that helps veterans and their families deal with Post Traumatic Stress. Swanson was their first non-veteran to take part in the program.
According to Diane Scotland-Coogan, co-founder of VHF and Director of Behavioral Health and Adjunct Professor at Saint Leo University, Carl was “open, receptive to feedback, reflective, took responsibility for his behavior, and was motivated to change.”
Ms. Scotland-Coogan used a variety of methods in their counseling sessions, including accelerated resolution therapy in which the therapist guides the client to replace the negative images in their mind that are upsetting them with positive images of the client’s choosing.
For Carl, he replaced the image of the child who had been mauled by a dog with a picture of his father in silhouette with the sun behind him. “Like in the TV program ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ my dad is holding my son’s hand and they’re walking away with their fishing poles,” Carl remarks.
Another method was cognitive-behavioral therapy. This method focuses on challenging and changing inaccurate, exaggerated, or irrational outlooks and their associated behaviors so as to improve the client’s emotional reaction to ongoing experiences.
Swanson came to the HEAT Factory on a regular basis for more than a year. Then in October of 2019, there was another incident at his house.
Swanson describes it this way. “My wife and I got into an argument and she became physical. I tried to call the cops, but she took my phone and left. Two hours later, I’m watching TV and hear a knock on the door. There are three deputies standing there. They tell me to come outside, so I did.”
Swanson explained to the deputies what happened and answered all their questions. As he bent down to move his dog, who was standing next to him, one of the deputies grabbed him, hit him in the face and knocked two of his teeth out. “I put my hands up to defend myself, but they claimed I hit the deputy. They were trying to antagonize me. I was told by someone that there was a target on my back because I was being vocal about the PTSD issue.”
This time, Swanson was charged with violating his probation, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest without violence. “How could I be charged with battery and then charged with resisting arrest without violence?” Swanson remarks.
The ironic thing was that a neighbor’s doorbell camera showed the officer striking Carl and his putting up his hands to stop the blows.
He was in a county jail near his home county because of the likelihood that he would encounter people in his own county jail that he had helped put there. After two years in the county jail awaiting trial, his attorney told him the trial had been postponed. Carl took a plea bargain rather than have his family endure the stress of a trial and then possibly losing anyway. By then, his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he didn’t want to put her through any more than she had already been through. He felt that this way, he might be out in time to see his mother before she passed.
“If she had been healthy, I would have sat in jail until my day in court because I never battered any of those officers. They knew it and lied about it.”
Swanson was sentenced to a seven-year prison term, but received credit for time served on his previous sentence, as well as for the two years he spent in the county jail for the new charges. State prison was a much different experience than county jail. “In some cases you had to worry about the guards more than the other inmates. One day the guard brought the prisoners’ medication to the cell block. They stand at the front and call out, ‘Meds.’ I didn’t hear him because my cell was in the very back. I went up to the guard a little later and asked him if they had brought the medications out and he started cussing at me. There were two other guys besides me that had missed the call, so he made us walk into the yard in a torrential thunder and lightning storm and made us hold onto the metal fence. They took ten days gain time away from me because I missed the call for medication.”
There was a lot of corruption in the state prison, also. “I saw more dope being sold in prison by the guards and prisoners than I did working vice. The guards would get a cut from what the prisoners sold. One guard was caught bringing vodka into the prison in water bottles and she got fired.”
During Swanson’s time in both county jail and state prison, the only people who stood by him were his mother, his youngest son, and the people at the Veterans’ HEAT Factory. “We had phone conversations, video chats, and sent him books to assist with his growth, relieve some of the boredom and help him feel supported and not forgotten,” stated Ms. Scotland-Coogan.
Finally in November of 2022, Swanson was released, after serving a total of three years−two in the county jail and one in the state prison. His mother died not too long after that. Of his time in prison, Carl is philosophical. “The Lord helped me find peace even when I was in prison that whatever happened to me was supposed to happen. I watched six different people get stabbed while I was there and two of them were homicides.”
Obviously, Swanson is somewhat bitter about the injustice done to him by the sheriff’s department and the legal system. However, he states that he’s telling his story, not to retaliate but to help other people who have gone through similar experiences with Post Traumatic Stress or those who might in the future have similar encounters. “I don’t want to sling mud; I want to sling knowledge,” Swanson states.
He’s especially interested in helping those who have Post Traumatic Stress, as he has. I say “has” because one is never cured of PTSD. They only learn how to deal with the symptoms and not have this “invisible wound” affect their families and loved ones.
“I have clarity now. They’ve [the Veterans’ HEAT Factory] helped me overcome the crutch of alcohol. I haven’t had a drink in quite a while. The urge is still there and I’ve had my slip ups, but I don’t even think about it now because they teach you the tools.”
They’ve taught him breathing techniques or just the simple act of taking your shoes off and stepping in the grass, or how to slow yourself down so that anger doesn’t overtake you.
Engaging in art activities or sitting on the couch and talking with other people, and playing board games are other ways that the clients at Veterans HEAT Factory re-direct their negative feelings and form relationships. “You’re not judged here and I can guarantee you that if you called me tonight and you needed help, I’d be there,” says Carl.
Ms. Scotland-Coogan reiterates the change that has come over Carl in the past seven years. “Carl has helped others in the program through his growth and sharing his situation. He has been very open about his experiences, taking responsibility for his part, and at the same time, sharing how his needs during all of this could have been addressed without incarceration.”
Swanson’s eldest son who is 21 and his middle son, who is 19 are slowly coming around. He knows that he will have to prove himself to them. However, his youngest son, who is 17, stood by him from the beginning and they talked on the phone frequently when he was in prison. Family relationships are an important part of recovery.
Just to show how much Swanson has progressed, he went to a nearby sheriff’s department and did a presentation. He didn’t realize the impact he would have. Afterwards Swanson got a standing ovation and everybody wanted to talk to him. This did a lot to boost his self-esteem. “I walked out of that room entirely different,” Swanson concludes.
If you, or someone you know, is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress there are numerous agencies and treatment centers in Florida that can help. Some charge a fee, but with many there is no cost. For example, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has branches all over the state. A local nonprofit organization that helps only veterans with Post Traumatic Stress is K9 Partners for Patriots. They have a program that matches the veteran with a service dog.
Call 988, the National Suicide Help Line, for immediate help regarding thoughts of or attempts at suicide.
Veterans HEAT Factory, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization, is open to Veterans and First Responders (EMTs, Fire Fighters and Law Enforcement personnel) with Post-Traumatic Stress. Their facility is located at 16230 Aviation Loop Dr. off Spring Hill Dr. next to the Aviation Branch post office. To find out more go to www.veteransheatfactory.com or call 352-251-8015.
