The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening approved a proposed $10.1-million dollar Fiscal Year 2013 budget. Mayor Dave Jones says the Council has spent many hours over the past couple of days preparing the budget, which will be open for a public hearing, on March 7th, 2012.  City Administrator Doug Harris said there were some last minute changes to the budget Wednesday, because the Atlantic School District has agreed to pay part of the cost to refurbish the tennis courts at Sunnyside Park, which are in bad shape and need to be resurfaced, especially before district tennis action can be held. Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring had said earlier, grants would be available to pay for a portion of the City’s cost to repair the tennis courts.

The School has agreed to pay $88,000 as its share of the cost to repair the tennis courts, which amounts to $44,000 per year for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014. That means the City will have  to pay upfront, the first-half of the $44,000 it will receive from the District, in order to pay for the repairs in the upcoming Fiscal Year. Because of that, Harris says he’s worked with Roger Herring to modify some of his planned project start dates, and will be dipping into his fund balance for any potential losses due to storms. Those projects and/or funds will be reimbursed, but not until Fiscal Year 2014.

The proposed Fiscal Year 2013 Budget adopted by the Council Wednesday also includes $13,055 for change orders on the City’s new waste water treatment plant. The budget night can be lowered following the public hearing, but it cannot be increased. The $10.1-million dollar budget includes $725,000 for the new waste water treatment plant and $190,000 for the storm water improvement system. The adopted budget will result in a slight increase in property taxes, to cover increases in the City’s employee benefits fund & Workman’s Compensation Insurance,  as well as an increase in the Debt Service tax levy.  Residents with an assessed property valuation of $100,000, for example, would see an approximate $31 increase in their taxes, factoring-in the rollback.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa says three Omaha, NE residents were sentenced this week in U-S District Court in Council Bluffs, in association with sex trafficking crimes. 39-year old Parrish Jason Casebier, 41-year old Cheryl Elaine Tucker, and 26-year old Kentrell Vertner, were convicted for their participation in crimes relating to sex trafficking and interstate transportation for prostitution. Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Parrish Jason Casebier to 300 months imprisonment, and Cheryl Elaine Tucker to 120 months imprisonment for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Kentrell Vertner was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for his role in conspiracy to transport individuals in interstate commerce for prostitution.

Judge Jarvey also sentenced Casebier and Tucker to 5 years of supervised release following their respective terms of imprisonment, and sentenced Vertner to 3 years of supervised release following his imprisonment. Each defendant was also ordered to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victims Fund, and ordered to remain in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a Federal Bureau of Prison facility at which he or she will serve that defendant’s federal sentence.

Casebier was found to be the leader of the prostitution operation, and to have committed the acts of physical and sexual abuse against the victims. Tucker was Casebier’s girlfriend and served as his manager of the prostitution operation. Vertner played a much lesser role in the prostitution operation, primarily associated with at times posting internet solicitations for prostitution and assisting with transporting various of the other individuals for prostitution.

The investigation arose out of a Council Bluffs Police Department (PD) response to a June 8th, 2010 request for help regarding an alleged kidnapping at a motel in Council Bluffs. As a result of Council Bluffs PD’s quick response to the call for help, a 19 year old
woman was rescued and another woman taken into protective custody. At that time, Casebier was arrested and charged by the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office with kidnaping. The State of Iowa charges were later dismissed, and a federal investigation was begun by the FBI and the Council Bluffs PD.

In February of 2011, as part of the continuing federal investigation, the FBI and Council Bluffs PD conducted a prostitution sting in Council Bluffs. As a result of the sting, a third woman was taken into custody and removed from Casebier’s control. Ultimately, four women were identified as victims of the defendants. The record shows that three of the four victims were originally induced by false promises to join the prostitution operation, and then coerced to participate in prostitution by Casebier’s acts of physical and
sexual abuse and threats of abuse. The fourth victim, a woman who had just turned 19 years of age, was enticed away from a homeless shelter by Casebier with promises of assistance, deceived or forced into being taken by Tucker from Omaha to Council Bluffs, and then coerced by Casebier to engage in acts of prostitution for just over one day until the victim was able to make a call for help without Casebier knowing. The conspiracy lasted from early in 2009, to June 1, 2011, ending with the arrest, on a federal warrant, of Casebier and Tucker by the Iowa State Patrol in eastern Iowa.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the SouthWest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, with later assistance by the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.