MORE: Trial dates set for 2 charged with dumping Middletown woman’s body
Swenson, 28, was back in Butler County Common Pleas court, where he plead guilty to the tampering charge, a third-degree felony, on Wednesday. The second charge, a lower felony, was dismissed.
Judge Michael Oster set sentencing for Feb. 15 after a pre-sentence investigation is completed. Swenson faces up to 36 months in prison, but prison time is not mandatory.
Defense attorney Mark Conese requested Swenson be assessed for a lock down community-based drug treatment program, noting Swenson knows he has a drug problem “so that he can put his drug usage addiction behind him.”
Swenson was free on bond, but that was revoked last week for a violation of his pre-trial release, and he is now in the Butler County Jail.
Robinson, 32, is scheduled for trial on Feb. 22. She remains free on bond.
Both Robinson and Swenson told Middletown police that Leslie Dalton, 20, of Middletown overdosed in their house, and they waited until night before putting her body in a wheelbarrow, covering it with a sheet and then pushing her body across the street to a wooded area.
MORE: Mom of Middletown woman found dead in woods speaks out
Dalton, who had reportedly been missing since July 27, was found dead in a dry creek bed Aug. 13. Her body was badly decomposed, police said.
Dalton, who attended Middletown City Schools, had a drug problem, her mother previously told this news outlet. She wanted to move her daughter away from Middletown, away from the bad influences in her life, her mother said.
After Dalton was released from jail, she was “doing so good,” her mother Rebecca Charlton previously said.
Then she returned to drugs.
“She made a mistake and relapsed,” her mother said. “Once she got a taste of it, it was back on.”
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