By Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — A father who admitted he had his 9-year-old daughter drive his van while he was intoxicated pleaded guilty Monday to a felony child-abuse…
Category: Crime
A comprehensive crime page for the North Iowa area and beyond.
In Texas, angst over withheld evidence
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau – HOUSTON — The case of a grocery store clerk wrongly convicted of murdering his wife has rocked the legal system across…
Court overturns sex-for-tickets case
By Alfred Lubrano, The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — The Superior Court of Pennsylvania on Tuesday reversed the attempted prostitution conviction of a woman who was famously tried for trying to trade sex…
Chicago bomb plot suspect could plead guilty in February
By Annie Sweeney, Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — A suspect in a plot to set off a bomb near Chicago’s Wrigley Field could plead guilty to federal charges in February. U.S. District Judge…
Underwear bomber asks judge for new lawyer
By David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student who pleaded guilty against the advice of his standby lawyer to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound…
BRIEF: Iowa drug dealer avoids prison, given probation
A Burlington, Iowa man police say peddled crack cocaine in the area will not have felony convictions in his record. Carlos Darvell Thompson was placed on probation for five years Monday after…
Convicted Child Killer and Prison Escapee Added to 15 Most Wanted List
Washington – The U.S. Marshals Service has announced the addition of Edward Salas to its 15 Most Wanted fugitive list. A convicted child killer, Salas escaped from the Curry County Detention Center in Clovis, New…
FBI Releases Preliminary Semiannual Crime Statistics for 2011
Statistics released today in the FBI’s Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report indicate that the number of violent crimes reported in the first six months of 2011 declined 6.4 percent when compared with figures from…
Loan Officer Sentenced in Connection with $2.5 Million Reverse Mortgage Scheme
WASHINGTON – A Florida loan officer was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for his participation in a nationwide $2.5 million reverse mortgage fraud…
Illinois Company to Pay $500,000 Fine for Violating Do Not Call Rules
WASHINGTON – Americall Group Inc. (AGI), a Naperville, Ill., telemarketing company specializing in sales for financial service and insurance companies, has agreed to settle charges that AGI violated “do not call” provisions…
Texas businessman sentenced over 18 years in prison for child porn offenses
San Antonio businessman sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison for possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 years…
ICE arrests NFL player in Chicago on federal drug charge
DALLAS – Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Chicago Bears football player Samuel George Hurd III, 26, of Lake Forest, Ill., Wednesday night on a…
Felon was school-trip chaperone
By Craig Welch, The Seattle Times SEATTLE — An elementary-school field trip turned into a police manhunt Wednesday afternoon when a parent chaperone recognized another chaperone as a wanted felon who had…
Teen suspect in Craigslist shooting considering deal to testify vs. alleged mentor
By Phil Trexler, Akron Beacon Journal CALDWELL, Ohio — Brogan Rafferty, the teenage suspect in the Craigslist shootings, is cooperating with investigators and is considering a plea deal to testify against his…
Former Iowa principal faces disciplinary charges
Meredith Hines-Dochterman Former Mount Vernon Washington Elementary School Principal Terry Eisenbarth is facing disciplinary charges of unethical practice and physical abuse of a student for his controversial birthday celebrations. An Iowa Board…
Police find drugs, drunk driver after police chases in Cedar Rapids
by Jeff Raasch Two men were jailed after separate high-speed police chases Thursday in Cedar Rapids. Terrell McBride, 23, of Cedar Rapids, faces six criminal charges after police found three baggies of…
Autopsy rules hazing trauma killed FAMU drum major
By Jeff Weiner ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion died as a result of blunt-force trauma suffered in a hazing attack, according to the results of an autopsy…
Prosecutor: Archdiocese lawyers could be stifling witnesses
By John P. Martin, The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — A prosecutor said Friday that new criminal lawyers hired by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia could be stifling priests and other church employees from…
Iraqi National Pleads Guilty to 23-Count Terrorism Indictment in Kentucky
Defendant Participated in Numerous Efforts to Kill U.S Troops in Iraq with IEDs BOWLING GREEN, KY — Iraqi citizen Waad Ramadan Alwan pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges today in U.S. District…
Judge sentences Bonds to probation, 30 days home confinement in obstruction case
By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge sentenced baseball slugger Barry Bonds to probation, 30 days confinement in his Beverly Hills home and community service Friday but…
McQueary’s testimony: ‘there were severe sexual acts going on’
By Jeremy Roebuck and Amy Worden, The Philadelphia Inquirer HARRISBURG, Pa. — Mike McQueary was unequivocal: When he stumbled upon former Pennsylvania State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and a naked boy…
Two men sentenced for robbing Minnesota gas station
MINNEAPOLIS — Yesterday in federal court in St. Paul, two Twin Cities metro area men were sentenced for committing the armed robbery of a New Brighton gas station on January 12, 2011….
Missouri Man Indicted for Producing Child Pornography
SPRINGFIELD, MO—Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nixa, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing child pornography. Michael John…
Did Penn State violate civil rights laws? Groups urge inquiry
By Curtis Tate, McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Department of Education investigates whether Penn State University might have broken federal law in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, legal…
Alleged Child Rapist Caught After 9 Years on the Run
Sacramento, CA – U.S. Marshals have arrested Pasquale Patrick Senatore a 45 year old male in New Jersey for a 2002 warrant out of El Dorado County. In 1998 Senatore is alleged…
Operation SOCC Brought 628 Sex Offenders into Compliance
Greenville, SC – The U.S. Marshals from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia along with Greenville, Spartanburg, and Pickens County Sheriff’s Deputies, Greenville and Mauldin Police Officers, and the South Carolina Law…
Couple Charged with Conspiracy to Steal Military Jet Fuel
OKLAHOMA CITY—A federal grand jury has indicted DOYLE LATIMER, 55, and his wife, CYNTHIA LATIMER, 59, both from Elgin, Oklahoma, for conspiracy to steal jet fuel and defraud the United States, announced…
Illegal Alien Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Prison for Attempting to Entice and Coerce a Minor
NEW ORLEANS, LA—DENNIS SORTO-ENAMORADO, age 30, an illegal alien from Honduras and most recently living in Metairie, Louisiana, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt to 121 months in…
Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Statement Before the Senate Judiciary Committee Good morning, Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Grassley, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the…
Former Waterloo Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charge
A man who possessed child pornography was sentenced December 12, 2011, to seven months in federal prison. Martin Weeks, age 43, formerly of Waterloo, Iowa, and now of New York, received the…
Combative Mason City man bites officer
Shortly after 9 pm on Wednesday, December 14th, officers were called to the 700 block of 4th Street SW to talk to 29 year-old Jon Ramon of Mason City who said he…
Alleged Sex Offender In Cedar Rapids Charged With Failing To Register
Earnest Twaite, age 55, from Cedar Rapids, has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender. The charge is contained in an Indictment filed December 7, 2011, in United States…
Iowa Insurance Agent To Pay US To Resolve False Claims Allegations On The Federal Crop Insurance Program
WASHINGTON – Russell Hawley and Hawley Insurance Inc. of Vail, Iowa, have agreed to pay the United States $834,897.50 to settle allegations that they caused false claims to be submitted to the…
Two Iowa Men Sentenced To Federal Prison For Illegal Re-Entry As Felons
Two men who illegally re-entered the United States from Mexico and Guatemala were sentenced on December 6, 2011, to federal prison. Alfredo Guerrero-Chavez, age 34, from Mexico, and Cristobal Velasquez-Lopez, age 33,…
Iowa Woman Receives 20 Years For Distributing Methamphetamine
A woman who conspired to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine and aided and abetted in the distribution of methamphetamine was sentenced November 30, 2011, to 20 years’ in federal prison. Shelle Marie Brooks,…
Milford, Iowa, Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Meth Conviction
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced December 1, 2011, to more than five years in federal prison. Benjamin MacMillan, 36, from Milford, Iowa, received the prison term after a…
Judge recommends Colorado low-security prison for Blagojevich
By Cynthia Dizikes, Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — If Rod Blagojevich gets his choice, he will spend more than the next decade at a Colorado federal prison framed by lakes, golf courses and…
Observers note that Sandusky defense attorney not going by the book
By Jeremy Roebuck and Chris Mondics, The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Let the critics say what they may, Joseph Amendola — the outspoken and often unorthodox lawyer representing former Penn State assistant…
Attorney says Sandusky faces ‘the game of his life’
By Mike Dawson, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) BELLEFONTE, Pa. — Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky now will have to build the most important defense strategy of his life. Sandusky…
Sandusky waives hearing; is a plea deal in the future?
By John L. Micek, Peter Hall and Andrew McGill, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) BELLEFONTE, Pa. — To hear his lawyer tell it, Jerry Sandusky’s decision to waive a preliminary hearing Tuesday…