Cedar Rapids, IA - Head of Multinational Drug Organization Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

A man responsible for distributing hundreds of pounds of ice methamphetamine was sentenced today to a life sentence in federal prison.

Jose Maria Valencia, age 44, from La Ruana, Michoacán, Mexico, received the prison term after a February 6, 2018, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute at ... More...    $0 (09-09-2018 - IA)

The following facts can be gleaned from the suppression record. Officer
Wilshusen is an officer in the Des Moines Police Department’s narcotics unit. On
June 3, 2016 at approximately 6:00 p.m., Wilshusen received information from a
confidential informant1 that Ahmetovic would be in a “black Volkswagen vehicle” in
a particular McDonald’s restaurant parking lot at approximately... More...    $0 (08-04-2018 - IA)

At about 6:39 a.m. on October 30, 2015, a police officer pulled over Bion Ingram, who was driving on Highway 14 in Newton, Iowa. The officer had noticed the vehicle’s license plate was not illuminated as required. After speaking with Ingram, the officer also noticed the
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vehicle’s registration sticker did not match its license plate—the vehicle’s actual registration had expired in 2... More...    $0 (07-03-2018 - IA)

Council Bluffs, IA - Inmates Sentenced for Contraband in Pottawattamie County Jail

Deandre Eugene Cooper, age 35, and Charles Jesse Beuterbaugh, age 30, were sentenced by United States District Court Senior Judge James E. Gritzner for Possession of Contraband by a Federal Prisoner announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Cooper was sentenced to 100 months imprisonment to be follo... More...    $0 (06-22-2018 - IA)

On November 6, 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant
at Frakes’s home. Officers based the warrant application on an anonymous tip
received three months earlier and on the reports from a named informant familiar
with Frakes’s drug distribution.
While searching Frakes’s home, officers discovered plastic baggies, scales,
drug paraphernalia, a small quan... More...    $0 (04-01-2018 - IA)

On April 7, 2014, Marshalltown Police obtained a search warrant and a
S.W.A.T. team executed the warrant on a residence occupied by Robbins. Officers
found approximately one-half pound of methamphetamine, approximately two
pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and cash. An officer spoke with Robbins
following the search and asked him who occupied the northwest bedroom wher... More...    $0 (03-24-2018 - IA)

The facts are essentially uncontested. The officers in this case obtained a search warrant for the residence. The search warrant indicated that the police were looking for evidence of the use, sale, and distribution of narcotics, along with firearms and ammunition. The search warrant identified one man, Jeffrey Sickles, as a person to be searched. An attached police affidavit identified a woma... More...    $0 (01-08-2018 - IA)

On November 9, 2015, Ames Police officers responded to a call from
Sandra Fairbanks reporting a broken window at her residence. While discussing
the incident with Fairbanks at the front door to her residence, Officer Vincent Junior
reported he could smell marijuana and see a hazy smoke inside the residence.
After entering the residence with Fairbanks’ consent, Officer Junior ... More...    $0 (12-24-2017 - IA)

In 2016, David Dwight Jackson was charged with five counts:
(1) possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to
deliver, (2) possession of a controlled substance (cocaine base) with intent to
deliver, (3) failure to possess a tax stamp, (4) possession of a controlled
substance (heroin) second offense, and (5) possession of a controlled substance
(mari... More...    $0 (07-24-2017 - IA)

Lucas Iddings appeals following the revocation of the deferred judgment
he was granted after entering a guilty plea to possession of contraband while
confined, a class “D” felony, in violation of Iowa Code sections 719.7(1),
719.7(3)(c), and 719.7(4) (2014).1 He asserts his plea was not voluntarily and
intelligently entered because the court failed to inform him of the applica... More...    $0 (06-14-2017 - IA)

On May 15, 2014, a package shipped from Mexico and destined for Waterloo arrived in this country at the FedEx hub in Memphis, Tennessee. It was addressed to Jessy Robles, 1013 Mulberry Street,
Waterloo, and contained a phone number for contact purposes with a 319 area code. United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers opened and inspected the parcel on arrival in Memphis. They... More...    $0 (05-29-2017 - IA)

This case comes before us on further review. The court of appeals, on discretionary review of the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss, reversed the district court and dismissed the charges against Deantay Williams, Taevon Washington, and Cordarrel Smith. On this further review, we focus solely on whether the defendants’ rights were violated by the failure to bring formal... More...    $0 (05-28-2017 - IA)

Dale Kuzmicki was arrested and charged with (I) gathering where
controlled substances are used, in violation of Iowa Code section 124.407
(2015), (II) possession of methamphetamine (third offense), in violation of section
124.401(5), and (III) possession of marijuana (third offense), in violation of
section 124.401(5). Kuzmicki waived his right to trial by jury, and the case <... More...    $0 (05-09-2017 - IA)

On February 17, 2015, at about 2:45 a.m., an officer with the Waterloo
Police Department was dispatched to a local gas station after receiving a report
from the gas station clerk of a suspicious occupied vehicle that had been parked
in front of the store at the gas pump for approximately thirty minutes. An officer
arrived at the scene, pulled in directly behind the vehicle, an... More...    $0 (04-21-2017 - IA)

On February 27, 2015, Kemp was charged by trial information with the
following: one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to
deliver, in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(c)(3) (2015); one count of
failure to possess a tax stamp, in violation of sections 453B.3 and 453B.12; one
count of interference with official acts causing injury, in violation of ... More...    $0 (04-21-2017 - IA)

Jazmond and Keenan are brothers; Kendale is their cousin. One evening
in late August 2015, they were “hanging out” on Pershing Avenue in Davenport.
They saw Ramon, who they knew sold marijuana, take something out of his trunk
and enter the house where he lived with his father, Raymond March. Kendale
recalled discussing with his two companions a plan to take marijuana from More...    $0 (04-06-2017 - IA)

An Iowa State Patrol trooper was traveling on Interstate 80 when he
observed two vehicles—a white truck and black minivan—with non-Iowa license
plates traveling the opposite direction. The trooper believed the vehicles were
exceeding the speed limit. Using a speed gun, he determined the vehicles were
speeding. As the trooper and the vehicles passed each other on opposite sid... More...    $0 (02-22-2017 - IA)

On the evening of August 18, 2014, Officer James Morris was parked along Highway 61 in Eldridge, Iowa, conducting random computer checks on the license plates of passing motorists to see if the vehicle was reported stolen or if there were outstanding warrants associated with the owner of the vehicle. His check of the license plate of a vehicle that passed him revealed that the female registered o... More...    $0 (02-15-2017 - IA)

At trial, the State offered evidence that Ahart and his girlfriend, Mara
Lubavs-Martin, operated a large-scale drug-dealing operation out of their Des
Moines residence. Law enforcement surveilled the house on at least ten
occasions and saw people coming and going on a regular basis. Officers from
the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration
... More...    $0 (02-10-2017 - IA)

In the early hours of April 21, 2015, Deputy Sheriff Matt Struve received a
phone call from fellow Plymouth County Deputy Scott Dorhout, who had fielded a
request from an O’Brien County deputy to keep a lookout for a vehicle travelling
southbound toward Sioux City. The car was “coming from a known drug house”
in O’Brien County, according to the lookout request. Deputy Struve,... More...    $0 (02-10-2017 - IA)

On January 7, 2015, Assistance Chief Terry Miller, Deputy Gary Davis,
and Officer Todd Halverson executed a search warrant for an outbuilding and a
fifth-wheel camper located on a property in Winterset, Iowa. The search warrant
sought a 2009 Yamaha Rhino utility task vehicle (UTV) and a CAT skid loader
believed to be stolen, and sought permission to search the camper for
... More...    $0 (01-25-2017 - IA)

The district court found Jerry Cunningham Jr. guilty of possession of
methamphetamine, second offense. On appeal, Cunningham challenges (1) the
court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the prosecution based on a speedy trial
violation and (2) the court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence arguably
gained pursuant to a statutory nurse-patient privilege.
I. Dismiss... More...    $0 (12-23-2016 - IA)

In August 2013, police executed a search warrant at Allen’s home in
Waterloo, Iowa. During the search, officers found several rocks of crack cocaine,
cash, a digital scale, and plastic sandwich bags with the corners removed.
Officers then obtained a search warrant to search the apartment of a woman
identified as Allen’s girlfriend. In the apartment they found receipts and ti... More...    $0 (12-21-2016 - IA)

Travis Trustin pled guilty to introducing contraband into a jail in violation of
Iowa Code section 719.7(3)(a) (2015). On appeal, Trustin contends the district
court (1) failed to advise him of a drug abuse resistance education (DARE)
surcharge or a thirty-five percent surcharge and (2) failed to advise him that he
had the right to use compulsory process in securing the attend... More...    $0 (12-01-2016 - IA)

Two Waterloo police investigators and the Parkersburg police chief converged on the Schrage residence one afternoon in late May 2013 to execute an arrest warrant for Dennis. The local police chief arrived first and saw Charles standing in the driveway facing him. As the chief approached, Charles started to walk away. The chief ordered Charles to show his hands and repeated, “Charlie, Charl... More...    $0 (10-27-2016 - IA)

On February 14, 2015, a Scott County magistrate issued a search warrant
for the residence and vehicles of Perryellis Stephens, located in Bettendorf, Iowa.
The search warrant application contained information from an anonymous
informant, whose tips began in November 2014 and continued periodically until
February 2015. The informant stated that Stephens and an associate, Ahma... More...    $0 (08-11-2016 - IA)

Randy Ruston of Inola, Oklahoma, is a self-employed commercial truck
driver. He was returning to Oklahoma after making a delivery in North Dakota
when he stopped at the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) Salix weigh
station on Interstate 29 in Woodbury County shortly after 3:00 p.m. on November
20, 2014. When Ruston pulled in, IDOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement Officer Kurt... More...    $0 (08-11-2016 - IA)

Around 6:30 p.m. on March 16, 2013, Officer Robert Smith of the Elkhart
County Sheriff’s Department was patrolling northbound on U.S. Route 33
when he noticed a truck being followed by a passenger car. Both vehicles were
traveling five to ten miles under the posted speed limit in the passing lane of the
busy highway. While following the vehicles at a distance for a mile or tw... More...    $0 (07-04-2016 - IA)

Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on April 13, 2009, Officer Paul Parizek observed a
pickup truck with an equipment violation and activated his emergency lights. As
driver Michael Scopa started to pullover, Parizek observed passenger Joseph
Stephen “moving around, kind of shifting from side to side in his seat.” Because
the stop occurred in a remote, dark area, Parizek approached the t... More...    $0 (07-03-2016 - IA)

In this case, we consider whether a search of a high school student’s football equipment bag by a school official violated the constitutional limitations on searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. The district court found that the school official had reasonable grounds to search the bag. The court of ap... More...    $0 (06-25-2016 - IA)

On February 14, 2013, conservation officers from the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) executed a search warrant at Schroeder’s residence.
Schroeder’s adult son, who was living in Schroeder’s home at the time, was the
subject of the investigation. The DNR officers had been told Schroeder was
believed to be involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine in a briefin... More...    $0 (05-26-2016 - IA)

On July 15, 2014, Clark was charged by trial information with introducing
contraband (controlled substance) into a detention facility, in violation of Iowa
Code section 719.7(3)(a) (2013). The matter proceeded to jury trial on February
10–12, 2015. Immediately prior to the commencement of trial, upon the
prosecution’s motion, the charge was amended to instead allege a violati... More...    $0 (05-13-2016 - IA)

Muscatine Man Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

DAVENPORT, IA – On March 18, 2016, Dustin Wayne Rogers, 30, of Muscatine, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to 228 months in federal prison on three counts of Production of Child Pornography and one count of Attempted Production of Child Pornography, and 120 months on one count of Po... More...    $0 (03-21-2016 - IA)

On November 7, 2014, Iowa State Patrol Trooper Halverson was patrolling
in Pisgah, Iowa, when he observed a silver van, traveling in the opposite
direction, occupied by two individuals, Freihage and Jesse Hurst, who were not
wearing seatbelts. Halverson made a U-turn in his patrol car and followed the
van as it pulled into a gas-station parking lot. Halverson parked his car b... More...    $0 (04-06-2016 - IA)

The trial information and minutes of testimony allege these facts, which we accept as true for purposes of this appeal.1 The defendants, Demetrius Rimmer, Rona Murphy, and Melonicka Thomas, participated in an insurance fraud ring that staged car accidents in Chicago, Illinois. Murphy and Thomas are Illinois residents, and their vehicles were registered in Illinois. Rimmer is a Milwaukee, Wiscon... More...    $0 (03-25-2016 - IA)