Officials with the U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Friday (today), a judge has sentenced 40-year old Bradley R. Cornelsen, of Council Bluffs, to four-years in prison, based on his convictions on five-counts of wire fraud. United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose today (Friday) also ordered Cornelsen to serve 3 years of supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment, and ordered him to pay more than $1.4-million in restitution to the victim of his scheme to defraud.

A jury convicted Cornelsen at his trial on November 1st, 2016, finding him guilty of five counts of wire fraud. The case was the result of an investigation by law enforcement of Cornelsen’s scheme to defraud his former employer, MV Transportation, where he was employed as Chief Financial Officer.

The scheme involved paying himself large, unauthorized monetary bonuses amounting to more nearly $298,000. Additionally, in furtherance of the scheme, Cornelsen used his company credit card and company manual checks for multiple personal expenses, including Rolex watches, collector baseball cards, Louis Vutton luggage, and furniture for his personal residences in Council Bluffs and Okoboji, Iowa. The estimated loss to MV Transportation arising from this fraudulent conduct was determined to be approximately $1.4 million dollars.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

One in five elderly individuals is a victim of some form of financial fraud. ISU Extension and Outreach has teamed up with the Senior Volunteer Program to educate on how to identify scams directed at seniors and what to do to protect financial and personal information.  The Savvy Seniors Avoiding Scams workshop will be held Thursday, April 20, 2017 at the Shelby County Extension Office meeting room from 10am to 11am.

Each year consumers lose billions of dollars due to being a victim of fraud. What you can do to protect yourself is the topic of this special ‘Savvy Seniors Avoiding Scams’ presentation. Carol Ehlers, Human Sciences Specialist, Family Finance, from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is offering this program help consumers to learn about the different types of scams and schemes that are present in today’s society. Savvy Seniors Avoiding Scams will provide you with tips to protect your assets from scams. If you are a victim, the program will explain how a scam occurs and how to report them to the officials. As a consumer there are things that you can do to protect your financial and other personal information in order to reduce your chances of being a victim. The warning signs of fraud will also be highlighted. Although this program is focused on seniors, all ages are welcome and will benefit from learning more about avoiding scams. ISU Human Sciences Extension and Outreach ‘Savvy Seniors’ is a public educational opportunity designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. Although this program is focused on seniors, all ages are welcome and will benefit from learning more about avoiding scams.

To register for the program please contact Shelby County Extension & Outreach at 712-755-3104 or email mtaggs@iastate.edu.

MARION, Iowa (AP) – A 15-year-old boy has been convicted of fondling three kindergarten students while volunteering at an eastern Iowa elementary school. A judge in Linn County says the boy was guilty of felony sexual abuse for his actions at Starry Elementary School in Marion. Her ruling was filed Thursday after two days of proceedings in juvenile court. It’s unclear what punishment he could face at his April 28 disposition hearing. The Associated Press generally doesn’t name juveniles who are charged with crimes.

The parents of two of the children have sued the classroom teacher and the district, alleging they should not have let the boy have unsupervised contact with the students last fall. The teacher’s attorney declined to comment to The Associated Press. In court documents the district denied allegations of wrongdoing.

The Young Professionals of Atlantic (YPA) organization, today (Friday) announced the 2017 nominees for the Annual Awards Gala presented by the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce and Megan Roberts, State Farm. The event is designed to celebrate the achievements of young professionals who demonstrate excellence and innovation in their profession and within their community. In addition to recognizing the success of area young professionals, one Chamber business will also be recognized as the YP Choice Workplace of the Year. The YP Choice Workplace Award recognizes companies who effectively attract, retain and develop young professionals.

Nominations were received in the following categories: YP Newcomer, YP Business Leader, YP Entrepreneur, YP Public Servant and YP Choice Workplace. The nominees are as follows:
• YP Newcomer: Brian Ruge, Brown’s Shoe Fit; Joel Rodriguez, Atlantic Locksmith;  Andy Niemann, Cass County Health System.
• YP Business Leader: Sara Hechenbach, Roland Funeral Home; Brad Henningsen, Henningsen Construction; Megan Roberts, State Farm; Ann McCurdy, Cass County Health System.
• YP Entrepreneur: Amanda Graham, The Picker’s Parlor; Nate Robinson, Robinson Landscaping & Patio Design, LLC.; Rachel Johnson, Villa Dance Company.
• YP Public Servant: David Wiederstein, Otto, Lorence & Wiederstein, P.L.L.C; Amanda Martin, City of Atlantic; Ashton Koehlmoos, Nishna Valley Family YMCA; Kelsey Smith, Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral.
• YP Choice Workplace: Olsen Fuel Supply; Nishna Valley YMCA; Rolling Hills Bank & Trust; Atlantic Dental Center PC.

The 2017 award winners will be announced at the YPA Awards Gala on Friday, April 28th, starting at noon. The event will take place at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club. Visit www.atlanticiowa.com to register on the Events Calendar page or call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712.243.3017.

An employee of the Bed, Bath and Beyond Store in Council Bluffs was arrested Thursday afternoon for Theft in the 1st Degree, after allegedly stealing over $20,000 from the store over the course of the past year. 22-year old Sierra M. Scheid, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody a little after 1-p.m. Thursday and brought to the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Authorities say Council Bluffs Police dispatched to the store at 3706 Metro Drive made contact with a regional investigator for the business, and Scheid.  Officials say Scheid confessed her crime to the investigator and Police who interviewed her.

Sierra Scheid

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa woman accused of intentionally crashing her vehicle into another wants her trial moved to another county. Court records say Melissa Ebert is charged with attempted murder, driving under the influence and other crimes related to the collision Sept. 9, 2015, in Plymouth County. Prosecutors say Ebert threatened to kill herself and her passenger before purposely veering her vehicle into the path of an oncoming car.

She’d made a plea deal with prosecutors and was scheduled to be sentenced on three charges this past January. But she withdrew her pleas, and a trial on all seven counts has been scheduled to begin June 6. Her attorney cited pretrial publicity in seeking a change of venue. A hearing on the motion is set for April 10.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Friday), passed a Resolution authorizing SWIPCO to submit a RISE (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy) Grant Program application, with regard to the Elite Octane, LLC ethanol plant Echo Road to Olive Street paving project. The timing is critical in order to submit the application to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The Board gave Snyder and Associates Engineers Dave Sturm and Tim Teig verbal approval to speed-up the planning and design phase of the project, the RISE funds for which would, if approved, also be used for the addition of a northbound left turn lane off Olive Street to Echo Road (south of Iowa Interstate Railroad line near the FSC plant), and a southbound right turn lane.  The cost for the turn lanes alone, including reimbursable engineering expenses, amounts to a little more than $512,000.  

The plans and specs for the main line of Echo Road to Olive Street are completed. Just prep work for the new addition of turn lanes is needed. The updated project schedule calls for final plans and specifications for that portion of the project to be completed by April 20^th. Those plans would be submitted to the Iowa DOT, which requires a 40-day review. Afterward, the Supervisors would approve those specs and authorize a request for bids, at the end of May.

SWIPCO’s John McCurdy said the original RISE grant they were applying for amounted to $588,000, and was based on the number of jobs (49) created by construction of the ethanol plant. Later, a decision was made to move the application focus from mainly ethanol plant jobs to a Regional Economic Development Fund, meaning there would no longer be a $588,000 cap on funds, and the entire area could be included which increases the State’s contribution to 50-percent, or 1.5-million. That, according to McCurdy, allowed the turn lane project to be included in the funding application. The DOT Commission will act on the County’s RISE application during their meeting on April 15^th.

In other business, the Board approved a Supplemental Agreement for Additional Services connected to the ethanol plant Gray Water Transmission project. And, the Board approved entering into a 28-E agreement for the formation of the West Nishnabotna Watershed Management Coalition, “To enable cooperation in supporting watershed planning and improvements for the mutual advantage of the political subdivisions involved.” Supervisor Steve Baier said the 24-member Coalition is made possible thanks to a federal grant administered through HUD, the primary purpose of which is flood control, but also water quality, river bank stabilization, and more. Iowa’s share of the funding amounts to over $90-million, which will be distributed in phases. The first phase includes $30-million over the next five-years.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 18-year old Tyrone Dale Rinner, of Afton, was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Polk County warrant. The warrant was for an order revoking pretrial release on the charges of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse – bodily injury and willful injury causing bodily injury.

Rinner was being held in the Union County Jail on $100,000 bond, and will be transferred to the Polk County Jail.