CEDAR RAPIDS – A Minnesota man who interfered with a federal prosecutor while engaged in his official duties pled guilty on January 10, 2013, in federal court in Davenport.
Timothy Demuth, age 51, from Plymouth, Minnesota, pled guilty to one count of opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a federal employee while engaged in official duties.
At the plea hearing, Demuth admitted that on February 14, 2011, he was present in a federal courtroom in Davenport, Iowa, at the time sentence was imposed upon his son, Scott Demuth, in Southern District of Iowa criminal case number 09-CR-00117. The Court imposed a six-month term of imprisonment upon Demuth’s son. The Court also ordered Demuth’s son to be immediately remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal. Demuth was surprised and upset that his son was not permitted to self-surrender. Demuth walked out of the of the courtroom. Court was then adjourned, and Demuth began to re-enter the courtroom. Demuth admitted that, as he re-entered the courtroom, he bumped shoulders with the prosecutor, and then intentionally stepped to the side, directly in front of the prosecutor, thereby opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with the prosecutor as he attempted to exit the courtroom. An FBI agent then intervened to escort Demuth from the courtroom.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey has been set for May 16, 2013, at 10:30 am in Davenport, Iowa. Demuth remains free on bond previously set pending sentencing. Demuth faces a possible maximum sentence of not more than one year imprisonment without the possibility of parole; a $100,000 fine, $25 in special assessments, and up to one year of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard L. Murphy and was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.
