(Radio Iowa) – A Chicago man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for defrauding Iowa concert venues. Court records show at least six Iowa venues were bilked by 43-year-old Romel Murphy for concerts that never happened. One paid Murphy 50-thousand dollars. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Murphy claimed to be a talent booker and sent fake contracts to entertainment venues that appeared to cover artists’ fees for concerts. Prosecutors say Murphy pocketed more than 410-thousand dollars. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Murphy has three previous fraud convictions.

Murphy’s scheme defrauded concert venues across the country, but none were named. A federal judge has ordered him to pay back the fees he pocketed. Murphy may have made some connections in the industry by working as the road manager for a national recording artist in 2017. The artist, identified by the initials K.C. in court documents, fired Murphy after one month.

(Radio Iowa) – A report by the Iowa Attorney General’s Crime Victim Assistance Division shows there were 17 domestic violence deaths in the first nine months of 2021. Division Director, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, says that is the same amount in all of 2020. “That’s absolutely the first big concern that we see — we are once again at a higher rate than we have been historically — and with three months left to go in the year we are already at 17 domestic violence homicides,” Tibbetts Murphy says.

Tibbetts Murphy can’t say there is a direct link to the pandemic — but says it is an aggravating factor. “I certainly think the pandemic has made it much more difficult for those needing help to get access to it,” she says. She says many of the service providers work one-on-one with the victims and the pandemic has made that difficult. “They really were forced to almost withdraw, so again, all of those supports were incredibly curtailed during the pandemic. So, I think that certainly can be a correlation with the rise in homicides,” Tibbetts Murphy says.

Tibbetts Murphy says the Victims of Crime Act or VOCA federal funding dropped nearly 18 million dollars this year and that is also a concern. “Many of our programs rely on the VOCA funds for the majority of their budgets,” Tibbetts Murphy says. “And for a program to lose eight percent this year — but a potential 20 percent of their budget next year — could mean not only the elimination of services in some communities, the elimination of some jobs in communities, but even the closing of programs and shelters across the state.”

She says a fix is in the works to restore some of the funding, but it could take some time. Eleven of the 17 people killed so far this year have been women, and that has been the case since the statistics started being tracked in 1995. “It’s been so unfortunate that we can’t seem to solve that,” according to Tibbetts Murphy. “And that right now the most we can do is try to provide services and safety to victims so that they are able to make decisions about their planning and their lives in a way that is safe, or as safe as it can be. But the threat of that homicide is always there.”

Tibbetts Murphy says you should get help in dealing with your situation. “Our advice is always to seek the help of an advocate,. We have advocacy programs across the state. They provide services that are free and confidential. And they can work with victims to assess their needs, and assess their safety planning issues, and connect them with local resources that they may not know about or may not be able to access on their own.”

Some of the domestic violence resources available include the Iowa Domestic Violence Helpline at 800-770-1650. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 800-799-SAFE or 799-7233. You can text “START” to 88788. The Love is Respect Teen Dating Violence Hotline is 866-331-9474, or text “LOVEIS” to 22522. All services are free and confidential.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A southwest Iowa man was sentenced Monday in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to serve slightly more than 17-years in prison, for Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography. In addition, the judge ordered 33-year-old Kenneth Howard Crum, Jr., of Sidney, to serve 10 years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

According to court documents, Crum pleaded guilty to the offenses in June of 2021. In November 2020, law enforcement investigated Crum for harassing his ex-wife through postings on the internet. The investigation revealed Crum also took pictures of children and posted the images on various internet websites. A search warrant was obtained to seize Crum’s
cellular telephone and a forensic examination of the cell phone located images and videos of child pornography, most involving children less than 12 years of age.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation – Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a man from Atlantic, 39-year-old Christopher M. Jespersen, was sentenced Monday (Oct. 25) to 10-years in prison, for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. His prison term will be followed by five-years of supervised release. Additionally, Jespersen was sentenced to 15 months to be served after his 120- month sentence for violating the terms of his supervised release from a prior conviction.

According to court documents, Jespersen pleaded guilty to the offense in June of 2021. In March of 2021, Jespersen was stopped for a traffic violation while driving in Dallas  County, Iowa. A lawful search of Jespersen’s vehicle recovered over 100 grams of methamphetamine along with digital scales and other drug distribution paraphernalia.

Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Mid-Iowa Narcotics Task Force, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – A woman from Humboldt County died early Monday morning as the result of a crash south of Interstate 80 in Cass County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2001 Lincoln LS driven by 26-year-old Bryce Baker, of Atlantic, was traveling south on 620th/Olive Street at around 5:30-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the car crossed the center line of the road and struck a northbound 2010 Chevy pickup, head-on, just south of Dallas Road.

A passenger in one of the vehicles, 29-year-old Griffin Ferguson, of Humboldt, died at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt. Baker, and the driver of the pickup, 64-year-old Bernard Sullivan, of Atlantic, was injured and flown by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Both men were wearing seat belts. The accident remains under investigation.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Cass EMS assisted at the scene. LifeFlight and AirMed helicopters transported the injured crash victims.