San Angelo Man Sent to Prison for Attempting to Counterfeit $100 Bills While High on Meth

SAN ANGELO – A San Angelo man has been sentenced for attempting to counterfeit $100 bills in a vacant hotel room while high on meth.  

According to court documents, 45-year-old Robert Swain was sentenced today to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division for  fraud and manufacture and delivery of meth.

On May 4, 2021, at around 2:00 a.m., a San Angelo police officer observed a vehicle pull into the Wingate by Wyndham Hotel, located at 3620 South Jackson Street. A registration check of a vehicle parked there revealed that it belonged to a Robert Swain, who had an active parole warrant for his arrest. The officer drove up to the vehicle and witnessed Swain walking away.

The officer place Swain in handcuffs and located pain pills inside Swain’s front right pocket inside a cigarette pack. The officer then conducted a search of the vehicle and located a plastic bag containing about 2 grams of suspected methamphetamine inside the center console area. Also located was a digital scale with suspect meth residue in the front passenger floorboard. Another bag and digital scale were discovered inside a backpack in the front passenger floorboard as well.

When a second officer assisted in searching the vehicle, they found a bag containing approximately 4 grams of suspect meth in another backpack in the rear passenger area of the vehicle.

Swain was read his Miranda rights and admitted the meth belonged to him even informing officers that he believed there was a half-ounce of meth inside his vehicle.

On July 15, 2021, investigators checked the suspected meth out of evidence to conduct a field test, which yielded positive for the presence of methamphetamine. Swain was found to be in possession of about 6 grams of meth which according to officers is greater than the average drug user would possess. It was also said by officers that the meth had a street value of $360.

Then, on April 2, 2022, San Angelo police were dispatched to the La Quinta, located at 2307 West Loop 306 regarding trespassers inside hotel room #239.

Officers arrived at the room to find it empty, but officers did find a printer inside the room and in the discharge bin of the printer were sheets of paper with images of $100 bills in U.S. currency.

Investigators went into the room and saw the printer and a can of oven cleaner sitting on a desk along with other spray chemicals. In the bathroom, investigators discovered a round tray next to the sink with a one-dollar bill, green wet paste, and a toothbrush on it. The toothbrush appeared to have been used to brush the dollar bill with the green paste causing the ink to fade.

On a screen in the living area of the hotel room, a Facebook profile appeared to be receiving instant messages. The Facebook account was registered to a “Rusty R”, a moniker Swain used.

A witness stated he was checking the hotel to ensure the unrented rooms were empty and saw Swain and two other unidentified males inside the room which was supposed to be unoccupied. The witness said he had issues with Swain in the past and knows him on sight and called after the men left the room due to the items left behind.

A patrol officer located Swain walking and detained him. Swain was interviewed and stated he was staying in the room but would not identify the other men.  Swain also denied any knowledge about the money that was being counterfeited. Upon searching Swain, a $100 bill was located with a matching serial number to the one found in the dispense tray on the printer at the hotel.

Swain will spend the next 10 years in a Texas state prison for manufacture and delivery of meth and for forgery. The sentence for the crimes will run concurrently.