Davenport, IA – A Salem, Iowa, man was sentenced Wednesday to 100 months in prison for possession of child pornography. According to court records, law enforcement began investigating 39-year-old Jason Robert Wesely, a former member of the Iowa National Guard, after receiving a cybertip from a social media platform in May 2020. The tip included descriptions of Wesely’s sexual conversations with an undercover agent, pretending to be a 14-year-old child. Further investigation revealed that Wesely belonged to a chat group where child pornography was shared among its members.

Wesely admitted to belonging to the group and to viewing and sharing child pornography. Wesely was ultimately discharged from the Iowa National Guard.

Following his prison term, Wesely was ordered to serve eight years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Homeland Security Investigations and the Iowa State Patrol investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

DAVENPORT, IA – A Clinton man was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years in federal prison for production of child pornography and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, 49-year-old Timothy Craig Geerts sexually abused a child and recorded the abuse. Geerts also surreptitiously recorded that child, and two other children, naked, in the bathroom. As a part of the investigation, officers also located videos of Geerts sexually assaulting an incapacitated adult, who he admitted to drugging. Geerts was previously convicted in state court of sexually assaulting one of the child victims.

Geerts also possessed three firearms. He was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was a drug user.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Geerts will be required to serve five years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Hi case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Clinton Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

DAVENPORT, IA – An Iowa City man was sentenced recently to 204 months in prison for receiving child pornography. Law enforcement identified 31-year-old Jesus Rafael Diaz-Figueroa after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from KIK that videos depicting child pornography were uploaded using IP addresses found to be associated with Diaz-Figueroa. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Diaz-Figueroa’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices, which contained more than 3,300 images and videos depicting child pornography. Diaz-Figueroa admitted he had been viewing child pornography since high school.

Following his term of imprisonment, Diaz-Figueroa was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. He was also ordered to pay $48,000 in restitution.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.

Des Moines, IA – An Iowa City man was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison, for tampering with his dental practice’s fentanyl supply by removing the medication from vials for his own personal use. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says 55-year-old Dr. Andrew Charles Hartwig previously worked as an oral surgeon in Iowa City and Mt. Pleasant.

According to court documents, Hartwig diverted fentanyl from his previous employer, Oral Surgery Associates of Iowa City, also known as Oral Surgery and Dental Implant Center of Iowa City, beginning at least as early as April 2019 and until at least July 10, 2019. Hartwig admitted that his actions resulted in the dilution and contamination of the fentanyl supply. Hartwig admitted he acted with reckless disregard that dental patients would be placed in danger of death and bodily injury and manifested extreme indifference to such risk. In October 2022, Hartwig pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with consumer products, in violation of the United States Code.

The Court imposed a term of supervised release of two years, a fine of $50,000, and a $100 special assessment.

“Patients rely on receiving the proper FDA-approved medications from those entrusted with their medical care,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian G. McClune, Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City Field Office. “We must hold medical personnel accountable when they take advantage of their unique position and tamper with medications their patients need.”

The Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston, Thursday, arrested a man for Driving While Barred. 45-year-old Corey Matthew Brown, of Creston, was taken into custody in the 600 block of S. Park Street. He was cited and then released from the scene, on a Promise to Appear in court.

(Radio Iowa) – Researchers at Iowa State University say the recent discovery of a saber-tooth skull in southwest Iowa’s Page County is the first evidence the prehistoric predator once roamed the land we now call home. I-S-U archaeology professor Matthew Hill says the exceptionally rare find is in “exquisite” condition, especially since it’s more than 13-thousand years old.

Sabertooth skull. (ISU photo)

The young male cat would have weighed about 550 pounds, compared to the modern adult male African lion, which only weighs about 400 pounds. It would’ve been a very large and lethal animal that was built for both speed and stealth. Radiocarbon dating shows the cat died at the end of the Ice Age.

Mathew Hill. (ISU photo)

Hill, an expert on animal bones, says this creature may have been one of the last sabertooths to walk the earth as the glaciers receded and temperatures warmed.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak report a man from Hastings was arrested Thursday afternoon, following a traffic stop in the 2000 block of N. 4th Street. Authorities say 40-year-old Curtis Richard Frazee was taken into custody for OWI/2nd offense. His bond was set at $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s top Republicans are denouncing the indictment of former President Donald Trump. Governor Kim Reynolds says it’s a sham. Governor Reynolds says Trump’s indictment is an assault on democracy, using government power to go after a political opponent. Reynolds says it isn’t normal, it isn’t justice and it’s not what America stands for.

Senator Chuck Grassley says the case against Trump is weak and the indictment is an alarming example of the politicization of the state and federal justice system.

Senator Joni Ernst says the district attorney who’s prosecuting the case has been fixated on going after the former president while crime in New York City runs rampant.

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says the indictment is politically motivated, wrong and dangerous. The other three Iowa Republicans serving in the U.S. House have not issued statements about the case.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird tweeted last (Thursday) night that politics don’t belong in prosecutions, but she did not directly mention Trump’s indictment.

(Radio Iowa) – A House-passed bill to set new guidelines for development of carbon pipelines has been tabled in the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says the conversation isn’t over. “We’re hearing a lot from both sides and we’ll continue to take that feedback and see if there’s consensus in the Caucus,” Whitver says. “Right now there isn’t.” Whitver is the leader of the 34 member Republican Caucus in the Senate.

“There are just a lot of different opinions and if you look at the different people who are working and interested in this bill, it’s very unique to have Farm Bureau and Sierra Club and Iowa (Citizens for Community Improvement) and Food and Water Watch on one side versus the entire ag industry on the other side,” Whitver says. “There’s just as many opinions as there are (senators) at this point.”

The House voted 73 to 20 in favor of a bill that would have required developers to get voluntary access to 90 percent of the properties along the pipeline routes before eminent domain authority could be used to force the other landowners to grant access to their property. While that bill was not considered in the senate, Whitver suggests lawmakers will continue to discuss how and whether to intervene.

“It is a hot issue, but it’s hot on both sides,” Whitver says. “There’s definitely people that want to see the pipeline happen. They think it’s going to be good for the ag industry. There are people that are very concerned about property rights and so it’s definitely it’s an issue that will continue to come up over the next few years.”

It’s possible the Iowa Utilities Board review of the three proposed pipeline projects will not be completed before the 2024 legislature reconvenes. A recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found nearly eight out of 10 Iowans surveyed oppose the use of government’s eminent domain authority to compel reluctant landowners to sign over property along the pipeline routes.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand today (Thursday) announced improvements in average efficiency scores in the three categories of government entities participating in the 2022 Public Innovations and Efficiencies (PIE) program.

“No matter how you cut it, Iowa’s taxpayers are getting a bigger piece of the pie,” said Sand. “The savings are baked into the innovative, cost-cutting measures being implemented by every participating city, county, and school district.”

Auditor Sand created the PIE program in 2019 to encourage government entities to uncover ways to save money. Their ideas include innovative heating and cooling systems that reduce energy costs, to 28-E agreements that eliminate redundancy. Sand says the program is so effective, it has been replicated by Mississippi State Auditor Shad White, a Republican.

A total of 488 Iowa entities participated in the PIE program in 2022, and once again, the Auditor’s Office received submissions from all of Iowa’s 99 counties. The graph below illustrates the increase in the average efficiency scores for cities, counties, and school districts. The average efficiency score is based on the number of efficiency measures adopted.

Auditor Sand will announce the PIE program winners later this year and hand-deliver a pie to each winning entity.