10 years later Bret Swortzel is still getting arrested and racking up cases, he failed to appear for court,forfeited thousands in bail with bench warrants issued today

**These are two photos from 2014 from two different FB accounts and the list of friends on one account lists Sarah Carroll, Michael Acosta's co-defendant and partner. It also lists him.being from Garberville**

Bret Swortzel has four 2025 open cases including a writ of habeaus corpus, three 2024 cases and at least 10 other criminal cases from 2003 to 2023. Charge categories range from drug to assault. 

I stopped counting. This does not include family support and civil harassment cases. All his cases do not even fit in one screenshot.

Swortzel failed to appear for court today, had bench warrants issued by Judge Kaleb Cockrum, bail bonds forfeited, just in one case it was $60,000. His bond is from an out of county company Bail Hotline. 

I covered Swortzel in 2015 and 2016 and there are way too many posts to link. His attorney at that time was former lawyer Michael Acosta who is no longer eligible to practice law in California.

8/15/25: Arrested by HCSO on a bench warrant.