NC Firefighter Set Wildfires On Tribal Land To Get More Work Hours

By Amanda Shaw

CHEROKEE, NC (CNN) -- A tribal firefighter pleaded guilty on Tuesday to destroying hundreds of acres of land to get paid for fighting the fires.

Raymond Neal Swayney, 31, pleaded guilty to setting fires on Cherokee lands.

According to court documents, Swayney and other Administratively Determined (AD) firefighters assigned to the lands were only compensated when called in for an active fire code. AD firefighters are hired temporarily to help with unexpected emergencies within the Easter Band of Cherokee Indians.

Swayney and others reportedly set seven wildfires between March 2010 and February 2014, destroying more than 420 acres of tribal land. The fires cost more than $106,000 in funds from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to extinguish.

The former firefighter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to set timber afire and to defraud the United States. He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A sentencing date has not yet been set.

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