DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The father of a 16-year-old girl who was tortured and starved to death is pleading guilty to three counts of assault while participating in a felony causing a serious injury. The Des Moines Register reports that 47-year-old Joseph Finn II appeared in court Wednesday to plead to the charges, which each carry up to 10 years in prison. Finn will seek to have the sentences on the three counts served all at once when he’s sentenced on May 4.

Finn’s ex-wife, Nicole Finn, is serving three life sentences for the October 2016 death of Natalie Finn. Officials have said the emaciated girl weighed just 81 pounds when she died.

Joseph Finn did not live in the West Des Moines home where his adopted daughter died, but prosecutors say he boarded up the windows in the house after Nicole complained Natalie and other adopted children were escaping and begging neighbors for food.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Police in northeastern Iowa have arrested and charged a man suspected in a string of convenience store robberies in Waterloo during which at least two clerks were sexually assaulted. The Courier reports 25-year-old Jamar Ronod Wise was arrested Tuesday as he entered a Waterloo convenience store wearing all black with his face covered. That’s the attire victims of four other robberies in Waterloo described the suspect as wearing.

Police say Wise is suspected in a Feb. 10 robbery in which the clerk was fondled, punched several times in the face when she resisted and sexually assaulted. Wise is also suspected of attacking another clerk in a Feb. 27 robbery. Police say Wise also carried out robberies on Jan. 29 and Jan. 31. Wise is being held on $1.8 million bond.

VERSAILLES, Mo. (AP) — The family of an Iowa man who drowned to death while handcuffed is upset that the former Missouri state trooper was allowed to do community service by helping with a live theater production after being convicted in the case. Anthony Piercy pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor boat violation in the 2014 death of Brandon Ellingson, who fell into the Lake of the Ozarks while in Piercy’s custody. Piercy was sentenced in September to 50 hours of community service and 10 days in jail.

The judge didn’t specify where community service had to be completed, so Piercy was given credit for working a play at the Royal Theatre in Versailles, Missouri. He has worked in community theater before, the Kansas City Star reported. “I thought it was a joke,” said Craig Ellingson, the father of the 20-year-old who drowned. “He (Piercy) had been in plays before, that was his hobby. That would be like me working at my company for community service. .. Basically, it was a picnic for him.”

Piercy’s hours were signed off by Cindy Davenport, the executive director of the Royal Arts Council Inc. She said Piercy assisted with the production and performances of the play. Helping out with a community play isn’t what community service should look like, said William Camm Seay, the special prosecutor who initially charged Piercy in December 2015.

Piercy pulled over Brandon Ellingson of Clive, Iowa, on the water for suspicion of boating while intoxicated in May 2014. He was taking Ellingson for a breath test when the Arizona State University student fell into the water. Piercy had put the wrong style of life jacket on the handcuffed man, causing the safety device to come off when he went into the water. The trooper was fired after Ellingson’s death. A lawsuit filed by Piercy looking to get his job back is ongoing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University’s unconstitutional crackdown on a pro-marijuana student group’s T-shirts will cost state taxpayers nearly $1 million in damages and legal fees.

Court documents indicate a judge approved $598,208 in attorney fees and costs on Wednesday. That amount is in addition to payments the state agreed to in January to settle the case including $75,000 each to Paul Gerlich and Erin Furleigh, the students who filed the lawsuit in 2014 and $193,000 to their lawyers for federal court appeals.

The $940,000 total doesn’t include work by the Iowa Attorney General’s office, which represented ISU administrators. The costs stem from a politically-motivated attempt by university administrators in 2012 to block T-shirt designs that featured the ISU mascot and a marijuana leaf. Judges found ISU administrators violated the students’ free-speech rights.

The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce is warning businesses that there is a company posing as the Atlantic Area Chamber, calling area businesses asking if they need to update their Chamber information> The caller requests personal information of some form. Chamber officials say it is not the Atlantic Chamber making those calls. The calls are coming from 712-986-7018. If you receive a call from this number, ignore it and don’t give out any information.

KEOKUK, Iowa (AP) — A Keokuk man has pleaded guilty to killing his mother in the home they shared. The Hawk Eye reports that 24-year-old Devan Williams described at his hearing Tuesday in Fort Madison how he smothered his mother with a pillow in January last year. He told the judge he did so to keep 54-year-old Lori Williams from screaming at him as they argued.

He’d been scheduled to go on trial April 24. His sentencing for second-degree murder is scheduled for May 18.

Cass County Treasurer Tracey J. Marshall is reminding property owners in the County, that Second-half tax payments of real estate and mobile homes now due. You can go online to pay your taxes at www.iowatreasurers.org

Credit and Debit cards are accepted, with a convenience fee. Deadline for payments without penalty is Monday April 2, 2018. Payments with a postmark of April 2, 2018 will be accepted without penalty.

Sheriff’s officials in Potttawattamie County report 36-year old Zachary Thomas Watts, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, following a disturbance at a residence in Council Bluffs that involved his girlfriend. Watts was taken into custody for Burglary in the 2nd Degree, Domestic Assault with Injury, and Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. He’s accused of causing about $400 damage by kicking-in a locked door at a residence on Capella Lane.

19-year old Cameron Steven Wilson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after he turned himself-in to the Pott. County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Wilson was booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail. That same afternoon, 35-year old Staci Lynn Ashley, of Council Bluffs, turned herself-in on a warrant for Violation of Probation. She was also turned over to Corrections staff. And, a traffic stop Tuesday evening, resulted in the arrest of 30-year old Giovanni Alsonso Saracay, of Council Bluffs. Saracay was arrested for driving while revoked, and on a warrant for the same offense.

A Nebraska woman was arrested late Tuesday night in Pottawattamie County, after a Deputy investigated an accident at 21310 Old Lincoln Highway, where the female driver of the vehicle allegedly assaulted a 49-year old female bystander, and 25-year old Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hansen. Hansen suffered minor injuries during the incident. 33-year old Sheri L. Ramirez, of Bennington, NE., was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, Assault on a Peace Officer, Simple Assault, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Failure to Maintain Control. After she was transported to the Pott. County Jail, Ramirez was found to be in possession of a red bag containing a suspected one-half gram of cocaine.