The lengthy Foggy Bottom Kitchens scandal that exposed flaws with oversight of state contracts reached its end Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court with the conviction of restaurant chain owner Brent Swadley on six felony fraud counts against the state.
The jury deliberated for just under two hours before reaching its verdict and recommending that Swadley serve 10 years in state prison. Swadley, who was indicted with two coworkers in 2024, is set to be formally sentenced by Judge Susan Stallings on July 16.
The single charge of conspiracy to defraud the state was the most serious he faced, and it proved to be the focus of the state’s prosecution. On that charge, the jury recommended five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Swadley also faced five counts of false or fraudulent claims against the state. On those charges, the jury recommended one year in prison and a $10,000 fine for each. Swadley was facing up to 20 years in prison had the jury recommended the harshest possible penalty for each count.
After eight full days of testimony, the jury was treated to nearly four hours of closing arguments by both sides. In his final remarks, defense attorney David Smith painted his client as someone who added value to Oklahoma’s parks by rehabilitating six restaurants that the state retains ownership of, while spending a large sum of his own money in the process to create a product people would like.
“For four years, he has slept under the awful burden of these allegations,” Smith said.
The defense portrayed the case as a contract dispute and attempted to lay much of the blame for the scandal at the feet of former Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department director Jerry Winchester and deputy director Gino DeMarco, who initially reached out to Swadley to operate the restaurants.
“Rather than a conspiracy, this is more of a disaster, like the Titanic,” Smith told jurors.
In their closing remarks, prosecutors McKenzie McMahan and Gayland Gieger assailed Swadley for his “greed” in defrauding the state of $3.1 million through markups and the sale of used smokers that Swadley had previously purchased years before.
Prosecutors told the jury that, all told, Swadley received $16.7 million from the state for the projects, some of which he used to enrich himself, they said.
They made note of how Swadley had convinced a vendor to create a fake and inflated invoice to submit to the state for reimbursement, a point the defense struggled to defend throughout the trial.
“Brent Swadley is selfish,” McMahan told jurors. “He will throw you under the bus as long as he can get more.”
Swadley was initially indicted alongside former executive vice president Curtis Breuklander and former Swadley’s company CFO Tim Hooper. Both men reached plea agreements with the state, and Breuklander’s lengthy testimony proved pivotal as he outlined his involvement in the scheme to inflate invoices submitted to OTRD.
Courtroom tense before verdict
The anticipation inside the courtroom before Thursday’s verdict was thicker than a pint of potato salad at a January picnic. Attorney General Gentner Drummond sat in the courtroom’s front row, conversing occasionally with prosecutors just hours ahead of a gubernatorial debate hosted in Lawton by NonDoc and KSWO-7.
Swadley unsuccessfully sought to have the Attorney General’s Office removed from the prosecution last year, arguing that Drummond had been impugning him and tainting the jury pool by talking about his case on the campaign trail.
Following the verdict, Drummond told reporters the message of Swadley’s downfall was clear and that he would make sure Swadley spent as much time in prison as possible.
“The state of Oklahoma illustrated that you cannot defraud the state under my watch,” Drummond said. “The jury sent a strong message with guilty verdicts on all six. I anticipate the judge will fulfill that with the sentencing. On that first count, it was five years, and all of the other counts were one year. It will be our request that they be served consecutively so that he can stay in prison for 10 years, which is the minimum he should be staying.”
Drummond dismissed the notion that the case had become politicized in a heated election year.
“It’s not political,” he said. “Mr. Swadley broke the law. “His arrogance has been illustrated for the last four years, and I’m very happy that justice has been done today and will be served.”
Asked whether he believed any state actors held responsibility for the Swadley’s scandal, Drummond said that, when OTRD officials began doing business with Swadley, they had the expectation that the state would not be defrauded.
“I think we at state government have a tendency to trust Oklahomans, and I think in this instance, having interviewed several parties on the state side, they did not anticipate that they would be defrauded, that invoices would be washed and padded like they were,” Drummond said. “I think it’s a lesson for state actors. We need to not trust as we have before, especially those in the condition of Mr. Swadley.”
Seated next to defense co-counsel Peter Scimeca, Swadley reacted little as Stallings read the guilty verdict. Throughout the closing statements by both sides, Swadley appeared animated at times. Shaking his head in disagreement at statements made by the prosecution. When Smith finished his nearly 90-minute closing argument, Swadley pumped his fist in approval. But moments later, as Gieger picked Smith’s words apart to the jury, Swadley buried his face in his hands in apparent distress.
Following the guilty verdict, the 55-year-old was led from the courtroom in handcuffs by Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Swadley walked stone-faced and did not answer questions from reporters before boarding an elevator reserved for jail detainees. A host of Swadley family members and friends attended Thursday’s afternoon session, and several looked shaken or shed tears as they exited the courtroom.
Swadley, who owns a 90-acre ranch in Piedmont and lives in a $1 million home, will now spend his days in the Oklahoma County Jail until his formal sentencing July 16.
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‘Our faith remains strong’
Swadley’s family issued a statement leaning into their faith while promising to appeal the jury’s decision.
“First and foremost, our faith remains strong, and we trust God will continue guiding us through the difficult road ahead. While we respect the judicial process, we strongly disagree with today’s verdict and intend to immediately pursue an appeal,” the family’s statement read. “This case centered around invoice and accounting issues — not an intent to steal from or defraud the state of Oklahoma. The work was performed, the products and services existed, and there was never a criminal scheme. We remain confident that once the full record and legal issues are thoroughly reviewed through the appellate process, concerns regarding this case will become clear.”
The family also said the guilty verdict will not impact business operations. Swadley’s operates eight restaurants and is one of the state’s biggest caterers.
“This matter has always involved complex operational and accounting questions that were improperly transformed into criminal allegations,” the family statement said. “We believe the appellate process will ultimately demonstrate that accounting disagreements and human error should not be equated with criminal intent. No matter the outcome, our faith and commitment to our employees and customers remain unchanged. Swadley’s will continue operating and serving customers while pursuing all legal remedies available. We appreciate the continued support from our employees, customers, and community during this process.”
