Dan Swift has long been making waves in the community from the mocking of Chris Weidman to the police led raid of alleged dog fighting operation.

Interestingly Swift himself went from this profile pic:

To the current one:

Initially Swift was convicted of 3 counts:

Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri credited those who assisted the prosecution team, with helping to win this case according to news sources.

Swift was found guilty of three felony counts of animal fighting, a misdemeanor count of possession of animal fighting paraphernalia, a misdemeanor count of possession of an instrument of crime, and seven out of fourteen summary counts of cruelty to animals.

“The jury has told us that the computer forensics, and Facebook postings, and things like that nature were very important to them in their verdict. Credit to so many people for putting this case together,” said Daneri.

“This is a huge victory, not only for the animals that we have at the shelter in this case, but for the Erie community, and I think this it’s a total step forward…We, today as a community, were a voice for these defenseless animals. So I really think they got the justice they deserved,” said Nicole Bawol, Executive Director for the Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

According to a different report:

 Frey testified that when a search warrant was served on Swift’s house the next day, she found the living conditions “deplorable,” with dogs tethered by large collars and large tow chains and kept in cages too small for them, with no food or water dishes seen and with feces and urine all over. She said she found evidence suggesting that dog fighting had taken place in the house, as well as items consistent with dog fighting. Those items included treadmills, supplements, medications, syringes, sutures, and chains and pulleys in the garage, she said.

Frey said police also checked a website that she said belonged to Swift and found documentation that he was a dog fighter dating back to 2004.

Additionally goerie.com reported:

 The prosecution presented evidence Tuesday that posts about dog fighting found on a martial-arts website were deleted a few days after an Erie man was charged with felony counts of animal fighting.

A detective testified that she believed the defendant, Danny R. Swift, 42, was behind internet posts under the username “swiftnhbfighter” that were recovered from a mixed-martial arts website.

“Shaking will rip and tear but pressure biting is the most damaging to a dog,” one of the posts read.

The username had also been used to post a video of a mixed-martial arts fight that appeared to include Swift, Erie County Detective Anne Styn said under questioning from District Attorney Jack Daneri.

Swift told jiujitsutimes :

 I was not placed in prison for 10 months.

My sentence was suspended and I was released pending my appeal. Had I been incarcerated for 10 months, being that my sentencing was August 3rd, I’d still be incarcerated and obviously not attending a grappling tournament anywhere.

BJJ Black Belt Dan Swift Busted For Dog Fights

Back in August the judge made the verdict:

 A dogfighting conviction has temporarily ended Erie resident Danny R. Swift’s freedom and permanently ended his ability to own dogs.

Swift, 42, was sentenced to 10 to 20 months in the Erie County Prison on Thursday and banned from having dogs.

Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender, who sentenced Swift in the standard range of the state sentencing guidelines, called dog fighting “a sadistic enjoyment of a brutal spectacle.”

Brabender turned away the defense’s argument that Swift cared for the dogs, all pit bulls. One photo presented in the case showed Swift and the dogs around a Christmas tree.

“The real world for those dogs was in the basement, where the dogs (were) in a cage,” Brabender said. “That is the real world for these dogs, not Danny Swift and the dogs around a Christmas tree.”