DAVENPORT, IA – A federal jury convicted a Davenport man on Wednesday following a two-day trial on drug charges stemming from a fentanyl overdose of an 18-month-old child.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, in 2021 Davenport Police Department investigated an influx of pressed fentanyl pills into the area, which resulted in numerous overdoses. On October 30, 2021, emergency personnel were dispatched to a residence on 4th Street in Davenport, for a child ingesting pills. When first responders arrived, they found the child unresponsive, with shallow breathing. The child eventually stopped breathing. First responders performed CPR on the child and administered Narcan. The child was revived and transported to Genesis Medical Center.

While at Genesis, the child required additional doses of Narcan, and was eventually transferred to the University of Iowa pediatric intensive care unit for further care. Toxicology testing revealed fentanyl in the child’s system. During the investigation of the child’s overdose, officers learned that Kathan Daniel Wiley, 23, had been distributing fentanyl. The fentanyl had been pressed into pills resembling prescription Percocet pills—blue pills stamped with “M30”—which the child had ingested and caused the overdose.

Officers located evidence that Wiley had been obtaining and distributing the fake Percocet pills in the Quad Cities area, along with other individuals. Wiley was charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, along with co-conspirators Linder Kai Divos (a.k.a. Lindo), Jordan Thomas Hopper, Austen Michael Thomas (a.k.a. Waynski, a.k.a. Mitch), and Marshall Matthew James Carver.

On April 5, 2023, the jury found Wiley guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, as well as possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, relating to the overdose of the child on October 30, 2021.
Wiley faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years with a maximum of life in prison for the possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury charge. Wiley faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge. There is no parole in the federal system. Wiley’s sentencing is scheduled for September 27, 2023, at 10:30 a.m.

The other charged co-conspirators have pled guilty and are pending sentencing.

• Linder Kai Divos pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and being a felon in possession of a firearm. On February 21, 2023, Divos was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in federal prison.
• Jordan Thomas Hopper pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, relating to an April 2021 overdose which occurred in Bettendorf, and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, relating to a June 2021 overdose which occurred in Davenport. Hopper faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years with a maximum of life in prison for each of the overdose charges, and a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years with a maximum of 40 years in prison for the conspiracy charge. Hopper’s sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
• Austen Michael Thomas pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and felon in possession of a firearm. Thomas faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years with a maximum of 40 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for the firearm charge. Thomas’ sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.
• Marshall Matthew James Carver pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, relating to an April 2021 overdose which occurred in Bettendorf. Carver faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years with a maximum of life in prison for the distribution resulting in serious bodily injury charge, and a maximum of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge. Carver’s sentencing is scheduled for September 26, 2023, at 12:30 p.m.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Davenport Police Department investigated this case.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds, Friday, announced various appointments to Iowa’s boards and commissions. Those appointed are subject to Senate Confirmation. Appointees from southwest/western Iowa include (by Board, appointee name, & County):

Accountancy Examining Board 

Lindsay Knoop, Dallas 

Board of Medicine 

Chad Stadsvold, DO, Woodbury 

Natural Resource Commission 

Tom Prickett, Mills

State Racing and Gaming Commission 

Daryl Olsen, Audubon

The following appointments are not subject to Senate confirmation: 

 Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System Board 

Wendi Hess, Woodbury 

Jeffrey Vandewater, Adair

Student Loan Liquidity Corporation 

Juan Garcia, Dallas 

(Radio Iowa) – An emergency food group is concerned about how proposed legislation could contribute to the spiking demand for food assistance. Des Moines Area Religious Council spokesman, Blake Willadsen, says DMARC assisted a record-breaking 19-thousand people last month. He’s concerned the bill which would add further hurdles to SNAP applicants, meaning more households turning to emergency food.

The state ended some Iowans’ access to maximum SNAP benefits in March of 2022, and Willadsen says that decrease was followed by record levels of visitors by last August.

The bill in the Iowa Legislature would limit assets households can have to get food assistance, and require more frequent eligibility checks. The bill would kick an estimated 28-hundred people off SNAP.

(reporting by Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a train derailment Thursday in Sioux City.

A Union Pacific spokesperson says about one dozen cars on a freight train derailed upright on the edge of their Sioux City yard around 6 p.m.. There were no injuries and no releases of contents from any of the rail cars.

Union Pacific crews put all cars back on the rails this morning and 28th Street will remain closed for at least a few more days because of the repair work.

Derailed cars in Sioux City. (KSCJ photo)