NASHVILLE, Tenn. – October 28, 2019 –Eric Swarbrick, 26, of
Austin Texas, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court, to interstate
stalking and sending interstate communications with the intent to threaten,
announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Swarbrick was charged in September 2018 and initially
arrested in Travis County, Texas before being transferred to the Middle
District of Tennessee.
In January 2018, Big Machine Label Group (“BMLG”) in
Nashville, began receiving letters from Swarbrick expressing his desire for
BMLG CEO Scott Borchetta to introduce him to Taylor Swift, who at the time was
a client of BMLG. In one letter,
Swarbrick acknowledged that he had been wandering around the offices of BMLG in
the past. Over time, the letters became
increasingly violent and sexual in nature, with at least 40 letters and emails
having been received by BMLG.
On three occasions, Swarbrick drove from Texas to Nashville
and personally delivered letters to BMLG, including on August 2, 2018. On that date, Swarbrick attempted to gain
entrance into BMLG’s office but was detained by security guards and arrested by
the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
After being released from custody in Nashville, Swarbrick continued to
send at least 13 threatening letters and emails before the end of August
2018. In many of the letters, Swarbrick
expressed his desire to rape and kill Taylor Swift and in one letter, he stated
he would kill himself in front of Borchetta and his staff.
Swarbrick is currently in the custody of the United States
Marshal and will remain so until he is sentenced on March 6, 2020. He faces up to five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine on each count.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Metropolitan
Nashville Police Department. Assistant
U.S. Attorney Siji Moore prosecuted the case.
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