Salesman Gets 10 Years for Bilking Parishioners
A licensed real estate salesman and trusted church member was sentenced to 10 years in state prison Monday for bilking $10 million from his fellow parishioners in a securities fraud and money laundering scam.
Some victims were present at Alhambra Superior Court to watch as Judge Candace Beason sentenced Rodney Bruce Swanson, 47, and ordered him to pay $840,000 restitution, officials said.
Swanson earned his victims’ trust through lifelong relationships, playing baseball with them and standing beside them in Burbank’s Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church choir, prosecutors said.
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