DES MOINES, Iowa – An Ottumwa man was sentenced on September 6, 2024, to 40 years in federal prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion of two victims, sex trafficking of one child, enticement and attempted enticement of two minors, and using the internet to facilitate prostitution after pleading guilty to all six charges in April 2024, roughly a week before his trial was scheduled to begin.

According to public court documents, from 2018 to 2023, Darnell Keith Jones, 32, victimized at least five individuals—two children and three adults—throughout parts of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, including in the areas of Ottumwa, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Chicago. Jones successfully sex trafficked one adult and one child. To cause his victims to engage in sex acts in exchange for money, Jones used physical assaults, harassment, and threats. He also acted like a boyfriend to his victims, attempting to convince victims that they could demonstrate their loyalty and love by completing sex acts for money. Among other things, Jones threatened a victim with a knife, hit a victim with a brick, and choked and strangled victims with such force that his victims lost consciousness or even urinated. Jones raped one victim and attempted to rape another. Jones admitted that he drove his victims to locations where they completed sex acts for money and that he used various internet websites to advertise the adult victims.

Jones coerced and attempted to coerce two female children to engage in illegal sexual conduct, including prostitution. One child was just fourteen years old, and Jones used text-message communications to persuade the child to engage in prostitution and to engage in sex acts with him.

“This case and many similar cases have a lifelong impact on the victims, which is not something the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office takes lightly,” said Wapello County Sheriff Don Phillips. “Local, state, and federal agencies worked together towards the common goal of ensuring justice for the victims and protecting the community. I will always make sure the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office does our part in combating human trafficking in the State of Iowa.”

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This criminal case was investigated jointly by the Ottumwa Police Department, Wapello County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations.

Wapello County Sheriff’s Office Detective Aaron McConnell, Ottumwa Police Department Investigator Jeremy Tosh, and Ottumwa Police Department Investigator Caleb Mitchell served as case agents, with assistance from Special Agent Hai Tran, of Homeland Security Investigations and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle Essley and Laura Roan prosecuted the case.

Human trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of youth under the age of 18 for commercial sex; the exploitation of adults for commercial sex through the use of force, fraud, or coercion; and the exploitation of any individual for compelled labor. Human trafficking does not require the transportation of individuals across state lines, or that someone is physically restrained. Signs that a person is being trafficked can include working excessively long hours, unexplained gifts, physical injury, substance abuse issues, running away from home, isolation from others, or having a person in their life controlling them or monitoring them closely. Victims particularly susceptible to being trafficked include those with criminal histories, a history of physical or sexual abuse, uncertain legal status, and dependency on controlled substances. Individuals who purchase sex from minors or from those who are otherwise exploited for commercial sex are also subject to prosecution for sex trafficking under federal law, if they knew or were in reckless disregard of the fact that they were under the age of 18, or that force, fraud, or coercion was used.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is occurring, be it a minor engaging in paid sex acts, or anyone being coerced into prostitution or labor, is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

(Radio Iowa) – The Hamilton County Supervisors this (Tuesday) morning approved a resolution objecting to eminent domain for the Summit Carbon Pipeline that will be coming through the county. Rick Young of Jewell read a portion of the resolution and says using eminent domain for a carbon pipeline for private benefit is not appropriate and should never be done.

“People in Iowa work way too hard for their to earn their money, to pay for their property, to have somebody come along and say, I want to use it. I want to dig it up and damage your property just because I want to put a pipeline through,” he says. Young says the pipeline will do other damage as well. “With all the drainage we have in our county, you go for the pipeline through and think that you’re not going to hurt drainage, you’re going to hurt drainage because it’s all going to settle differently,” Young.

Hamilton County Supervisor Jerry Kloberdanz  shared his opinion on the rejection of eminent domain. “Hamilton County Boards of Supervisors objects to the use of eminent domain for private economic gain and urges the Iowa Utilities Commission not to grant Carbon Solutions and their affiliates the use of eminent domain for this project,” he says.

Summit Carbon Solutions is holding informational meetings on the expansion its project in Titonka today (Tuesday). Summit has information meetings scheduled in Butler and Floyd Counties for Wednesday.

(Radio Iowa) – Authorities are investigating a home explosion that injured two people in northwest Iowa. The explosion was reported just after 9 a.m. Monday at an address 2 miles northeast of Ottosen, in southwestern Kossuth County. Upon arrival, emergency workers confirmed two people were inside the home at the time and began a search.

44-year-old Catherine Fleischhacker was located under debris on the west side of the home and freed by Fire and EMS personnel. She was transported to Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona before being life-flighted to MercyOne Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City with undetermined injuries. 21-year-old Brett Lanning was able to crawl out of the debris on his own. He was taken to the Humboldt County Hospital for examination there.

The state fire Marshall’s office has been called in to determine what may have caused the explosion.

(Radio Iowa) – Libertarian candidates for three Iowa congressional seats who’ve been removed from the ballot vow to run write-in campaigns if the state’s highest court rules against them. In late August, a state panel ruled the Libertarian Party did not follow state law when it held county conventions on January 15th, the same day as the party’s caucuses. The Iowa Supreme Court’s justices heard legal arguments in the case this (Tuesday) morning.

Marco Battaglia of Des Moines is the candidate Libertarians nominated to run in Iowa’s third congressional district. Battaglia told reporters he took the time to make sure he did things the right way and the Republican Party’s challenge of his candidacy is unfair. “If they use lawfare to take me off the ballot, I will stay in until the end of the race regardless,” Battaglia says. “I plan to do that no matter what happened today or yesterday or tomorrow.” Charles Aldrich of Clarion, the Libertarian candidate in the fourth congressional district, is striking a hopeful tone about today’s (Tuesday’s) legal arguments.

“The justices had a lot of questions for both sides,” Aldrich told reporters, “so they were paying attention.”Alan Ostergren  is the attorney who represented the Republicans who challenged the Libertarian congressional candidates. Ostergren told the justices the Libertarian Party failed to follow the procedural steps for its county conventions. “They’re like an insurance policy for the elections process. They’re so that elections officials, when they have to make decisions on a quick timetable, know that there is regularity in the process,” Ostergren said. “…If the court says: ‘Well, we’re not going to enforce that ’cause, gosh it seems harsh,’ then there is no logical stopping place.”

Jennifer DeKoch, a lawyer representing one of the Libertarians kicked off the fall ballot, told the justices a ruling against her client would lead to similar challenges of other candidates. “The fundamental question before this court is does the failure to wait 181 minutes after caucus to begin convention justify kicking Libertarian candidates off the ballot and violating Iowa voters’ constitutional rights to political opportunity?” she asked rhetorically.

The Iowa Supreme Court’s chief justice indicated the court will issue its decision before tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:59 p.m. That is the deadline Iowa’s secretary of state has established for certifying the ballots in the first, third and fourth congressional districts — and getting those ballots printed on time.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests:

23-year-old Chase Jonathan Ives, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested last Friday (Sept. 6th) on a Mills County warrant for Violation of Probation. Ives was taken into custody at the Sarpy County, NE Jail. His bond was set at $5,000.

35-year-old Christopher Lee Petersen, of Glenwood, was arrested early Sunday morning, for OWI/1st offense, two counts Possession of Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $3,300.

And, 37-year-old Reynaldo Domingo Rivera, of Bellevue, NE, was arrested Monday at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Willful Injury. His bond was set at $10,000.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A woman was arrested on a warrant at around Noon today (Tuesday) in Red Oak. The Red Oak Police Department reports 32-year-old Maura Elizabeth Jones, of Red Oak, was taken into custody on a Montgomery County warrant for Impersonating a Public Official, an aggravated misdemeanor. Jones was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Transportation Commission today (Tuesday) discussed an expansion of a long-time economic development program to help communities hit by disasters. The D-O-T’s Deb Arp says the RISE program was created during the economic downturn in the 1980’s. “Iowa’s economy needed revitalization at that time, and through more diversification and more support for development in non metropolitan areas, and that became a driving force through some of the legislative achievements through that period. And in 1985 rise was one of those,” Arp says. RISE stands for Rebuild Iowa’s Sound Economy, and provides funding to extend roadways for potential new businesses or to help businesses which promise to create new jobs.

Arp says the Business Relocation and Job Retention program would meet the guidelines of RISE. “We feel that the impacts of this program and on revitalizing a community could be similar, and looked at similar as the University Research Park category,” she says, “where we may not have specific job commitments, we don’t have a specific company we are assisting, but we are approaching that level of impact, economic development wise, in a depressed area, that it’s worthy of a higher level of support.”
Arp says it would not be used to rebuild flooded roads — but would help businesses relocate to stay viable.

“A community should be in a county covered by a proclamation of disaster emergency by the governor and also a presidential disaster declaration,” Arp says. “There must be flooded businesses. In this case, we’re talking about a flood. Flooded businesses requesting permanent relocation outside of the Flood Hazard Area.” Arp says the applications would have to go through a scoring process to determine they met the guidelines.

“Documentation of business interest in relocation and the economic distress of the community would be required to be submitted with the application. Roadways are located outside of the flood hazard area, and rise participation would be held to 70 percent of eligible project costs,” she says. The D-O-T staff will now put together the language to create the program and bring it back to the Transportation Commission for a vote to approve it. Arp says Rock Valley is one community that could use the program if it is approved.

(Radio Iowa) – A former southeast Iowa middle school teacher is being sentenced after sending improper messages to a student six years ago. Forty-two-year-old Zachary Barr of Ottumwa will serve a pair of five-year concurrent prison sentences after pleading guilty to enticing a minor and sexual exploitation by a school employee. In 2018, Barr, then a sixth-grade teacher at Evans Middle School, sent illicit messages to a 13-year-old girl. As part of the investigation, officers took control of the girl’s social media accounts. Their conversations with Barr became overtly sexual, prompting his arrest.

In addition to his prison time, Barr will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.