Eric Swarbrick Gets 30 Months In Prison For Stalking & Threatening Taylor Swift

Eric Swarbrick, an Austin, Texas man, was brought before a Nashville federal court on Wednesday. Swarbrick received a 30 months sentence for the stalking and sending threatening messages to pop star Taylor Swift.

The Metro Nashville Police Department had revealed the identity of Swift’s alleged stalker on an October 28 tweet last year that read, “In a case investigated by @FBI & the MNPD’s Specialized Investigations Div, Eric Swarbrick, 27, of Austin, TX, today pleaded guilty in Nashville fed court to interstate stalking & sending interstate comms with the intent to threaten related to Taylor Swift & a record company.”

Swarbrick, a bus driver Eanes Independent School District, had allegedly sent a near-constant stream of e-mails and letters to Swift’s record label, Big Machine Label, throughout 2018. The letters were addressed to the CEO, Scott Borchetta, and requested the arrangement of a meeting between Swarbrick and Swift. As time went by, the messages amounted to 40 in total, and each became more violent and threatening in nature than the last. This continued harassment led Swift to file a restraining order against the disturbed bus driver.

Due to the fact that Swarbrick traveled from Texas to Tennessee to personally deliver letters on at least three occasions, his actions became a federal crime that required the involvement of the FBI. A federal judge sentenced Swarbrick to over two years in prison, with a plea agreement requiring three years of supervised release.

Sawrbrick is not the first stalker to harass the singer. Stalker Timothy Sweet had directed 735 tweets at Swift that claimed they were married and threatening to “kill any man” that got in the way of it. One such tweet read, “I COULD HAVE CHOSEN ANY WOMAN TO MARRY. I CHOSE TAYLOR. Time is short, I trust God will provide a spouse! @taylorswift13.” Sweet had also aimed messages at other celebrities, including Swift’s former love interest, Jake Gyllenhaal.