–A Swea City man will avoid a trial that had been scheduled for early June after pleading guilty to a charge of Involuntary Manslaughter this week in a case dating back to 2021.
Court records show that 53-year-old Robert Dwaine Laverty entered the guilty plea on Monday in Kossuth County District Court, after initially being charged with Voluntary Manslaughter in the 2021 death of Casey Tobin in Swea City. Laverty and Tobin were involved in an altercation in the evening hours of April 3rd, 2021.
At the time, witnesses reported that Tobin had been intoxicated, and struck Laverty several times during the altercation, before Laverty struck Tobin in the face, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement. Tobin died on April 6th, 2021, as a result of blunt force trauma injuries to head sustained in the incident.
Laverty’s had been scheduled to stand trial on the Voluntary Manslaughter charge in June, which carries a maximum sentence of 10-years in prison.
By pleading guilty to Involuntary Manslaugher, Laverty could receive a sentence of up to 2 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
