MAN SENTENCED IN DEATH OF HIGHWAY WORKER

A Federal Way man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for driving
under the influence of drugs and killing a state highway worker on State
Route 18 last August.

In December, Stig Swanson, 55, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and
driving under the influence of a powerful painkiller called Oxycontin, used
to treat moderate to severe, long-term pain with effects similar to
morphine or heroin.

The standard sentencing range for vehicular homicide is three years to four
years, but King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng asked for an
exceptional sentence based on Swanson's level of intoxication and the
vulnerability of the victim, spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

Swanson told police after his arrest he had taken one of the pills a couple
hours before he got behind the wheel of a friend's pickup truck.

Department of Transportation worker Wayne "Jake" Baardson, 50, was working
on the shoulder of SR-18 when he was struck and killed instantly by the
truck driven by Swanson.

At a hospital where he was taken for treatment of injuries in the accident,
a State Patrol detective noted Swanson's eyes were bloodshot and watery and
his pupils were pinpoints. Several times during an interview, Swanson fell
asleep, authorities said.