Des Moines, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office reports 46-year old Marlin Santana Thomas, of Des Moines, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for sex trafficking six victims by force, fraud, and coercion.  Thomas was ordered to pay $600 to the Crime Victims’ Fund and a restitution hearing was set for February 7, 2022.

Thomas pleaded guilty to sex trafficking six adult victims and admitted to trafficking a 14- year-old victim on May 12, 2021. He admitted in his plea agreement to trafficking victims beginning in 2009, and as recently as February 28, 2018, when he was arrested as part of a separate federal drug investigation, for which he is currently serving a term of federal imprisonment.

At sentencing, Des Moines Police Department Sergeant Brady Carney testified that he had interviewed an additional 11 women who Thomas had raped, attempted to sex traffic, and/or physical assaulted. In the plea agreement, Thomas admitted using physical violence against all six adult victims to coerce them to engage in commercial sex acts, including punching one victim in the face and assaulting another in her home after she told Thomas she was done working for him.

Thomas admitted to knowing one victim was a heroin addict and using her addiction to coerce her into engaging in commercial sex acts. Thomas also admitted to arranging for a 14-year-old to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing that she was not yet 18 years old.

He admitted to posting online escort advertisements of victims transporting them to hotels and motels in Iowa as well as Illinois, Missouri, and North Dakota, and keeping the proceeds from the commercial sex acts. Thomas targeted vulnerable women, including approaching women living at residential treatment centers, providing drugs to women struggling with addiction, and feigning romantic interest. He assaulted, raped, and stalked victims who did not comply.

Hotel receipts, police reports, phone records, online escort ads, medical records, photographs, and witnesses verified the victim’s accounts. The United States presented victim impact statements on behalf of six women, recounting the harm inflicted by Thomas and its lasting effects.

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) – An annual report from the American Lung Association shows Iowa ranks below the national average for survival rates, early diagnosis and surgical treatment of lung cancer. Alyssa DePhillips is with the American Lung Association. She says the data also shows that among racial groups, black Iowans are the last likely to receive surgical treatment.

“They may decide to opt out of treatment because their disease has progressed far,” she says, “but we don’t want people to be forgoing treatment because of lack of access to care, their provider not knowing about cutting edge treatments or stigma associated with lung cancer and the cost.” DePhillips says the one category Iowa ranked above the national average for is lung cancer screenings.

“Iowa is doing a lot in this state to try to increase the rates of people that are screened for lung cancer because the sooner people get screened, the sooner they can receive treatment,” she says, “and the more likely that surgery would be a treatment option.” The report found 11 percent of Iowans who are at higher risk of developing lung cancer were screened in the past year. That’s almost double the national average.

Only one out of five Iowans who are diagnosed with lung cancer are alive five years after learning they have the disease.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs)

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department reports two recent arrests. On Monday (11/15), 30-year-old Justin Van Carver, of Harlan, was arrested for Possession of Drug paraphernalia. And, on Nov. 9th, 52-year-old Marlene Eleanor Anderson, of Ralston, IA, was arrested on an active Carroll County warrant.

(Radio Iowa) – A refugee resettlement agency has won the bid to create the statewide plan for English Language Learners through the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. Sara Zejnic is the director of refugee and immigrant services at the Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids. She says the plan will not only focus on students, it will also include recommendations for teachers and parents.

Zejnic says, “I think it’s also shown us the importance of equity and the importance of making sure that districts across the state schools across the state have the resources necessary to welcome and support refugees and immigrants in their communities.” Zejnic says an effective plan is especially important now that hundreds of Afghan refugees will soon be arriving in Iowa. The E-L-L plan will target students in the K-through-12 system and it’s mainly geared toward refugees, humanitarian parolees and survivors of human trafficking.

Anne Dugger, the center’s director of education services, says others will also benefit.  Dugger says, “So, when you look at ‘Hey, we’re making a state plan for refugees,’ the collateral beneficiaries are immigrants, any other ELL — English language learners in the school population.” It’s estimated the new E-L-L plan will go into effect at the beginning of next school year.

(reporting by Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)

(UPDATE 11/18/21: Urbandale Police says two vehicles and several items taken from the Every Step organization on Tuesday have been found in Des Moines.  No arrests have been made in connection with the burglary.)

(Radio Iowa) – Thieves have struck a central Iowa organization just as it was gearing up to deliver cheer to those who are facing the holidays without a loved one. EveryStep C-E-O Tray Wade, says they were preparing their annual Cheer Boxes that go out to those who have lost a loved one. “Every year we partner with a local business and have volunteers come in and wrap and prepare the boxes — over 600 boxes to be delivered throughout the state and beyond. This year we were partnering with a company in Urbandale, and when we came in this morning we realized the space that we were utilizing had been broken into,” Wade says.

He says the thieves loaded up and left. “They took a number of items out of the boxes — items such as games — they targeted our design keychains that have a special message and out EveryStep information on them. But then they also took some larger items. They stole our delivery truck and our delivery van that we use to deliver the boxes out to the community,” according to Wade. Electronic and audio visual devices the group uses are also stolen.

Stolen EveryStep truck

“They actually ended up even taking the treats and the pop and the coffee that we had set aside for the volunteers who come in and give up their time putting these together,” he says. Urbandale police are investigating the thefts. Wade says EveryStep is moving forward with plans to complete the deliveries at the end of this month. “We have a resilient team, and I am incredibly proud of how the team has pulled together and said it might take a little bit of extra work and a lot of time and effort be we’re definitely getting these cheer boxes out to people who need them, who have experienced the loss who are going to go through a really tough holiday season,” he says.

“We don’t quite know how yet — but we are going to make it happen some way.” Wade says anyone who wants to help them recover and move forward can do so by donating. (as said)”Right now we could really use to be quite honest, just cash donations. If they want to participate and want to support this program, they can go to EveryStep.org if they wanted to donate,” Wade says. He says they may also need some more volunteers to help them catch up in getting the new cheer boxes ready.

(Radio Iowa) – A 24-year-old central Iowa man has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a 15 year old. On Friday, the Pleasantville Police Department asked state agents to investigate allegations that a Pleasantville policeman had sexual contact with a 15-year-old. On Monday, Alec Veatch was arrested at his home in Norwalk. Veatch has been charged with third degree sexual abuse, enticing a minor and lascivious acts with a minor.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, state agents continue to investigate and additional charges will be filed. The agency’s news release described Veatch as a former officer, but did not say whether Veatch resigned or was fired from his job in Pleasantville.

City council records from Pleasantville indicate Veatch is a certified E-M-T and a combat medic with the Iowa National Guard. He was hired in May to fill a full-time vacancy in the Pleasantville Police Department.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – A Shenandoah man showed up at the Page County Jail Tuesday (today) to serve a jail sentence on a previous conviction for OWI/2nd Offense. While being booked, authorities noticed 39-year-old Jonathan Lynn Gray, appeared to be intoxicated.

Jonathan Gray

Through a series of tests, the Deputy determined that Gray was indeed intoxicated. He was then arrested for Public Intoxication and booked into the County Jail on the Public Intoxication and the court ordered sentence.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says a ruling from a federal judge makes it clear accepting federal pandemic relief didn’t prohibit lawmakers from cutting taxes at the state level this year and won’t stand in the way of more tax cuts in 2022. Last March, Reynolds signed onto a lawsuit challenging a provision in the American Rescue Plan that said states could not use the pandemic relief to directly or indirectly offset tax cuts. A federal judge in Alabama has ruled that’s a vague condition for federal funding and congress exceeded its authority. Reynolds says the Biden Administration was trying to punish fiscally responsible states and she says the ruling is a major victory for Iowa taxpayers.

Reynolds already approved a series of tax cuts in June. That was three months after the Biden Administration announced there was no blanket prohibition on cutting taxes at the state level, as long as federal pandemic funds weren’t used to pay for tax cuts.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports a Union County man was arrested over the weekend, following the theft of a pickup truck from the rural Orient, area. The Sheriff’s Office says they received a report at around 10:48-a.m., Saturday, about a Ford F-150 that was stolen. At around 1:15-p.m., an Adair County Deputy ran the VIN of a 2009 Dodge 3500 pickup that was in a roadside ditch, east of Zion. The pickup was reported stolen a day earlier, to the West Des Moines Police Department.

At around 3:47-p.m., Saturday, while still on the scene with the stolen Dodge, the Deputy saw the stolen Ford pickup drive by. He activated his emergency lights, but the driver of the vehicle failed to yield, which resulted in a pursuit. The chase went south into Union County for about 15-minutes, before the driver of the pickup stopped, and took off on foot. Deputies with the Union and Madison County Sheriff’s Offices, Iowa DNR law enforcement personnel and the Iowa State Patrol assisted in the search for the suspect.

A call from a concerned citizen led to the suspect being located about one-mile from the location where he originally fled on foot. 27-year-old Wyatt Robert Schamp, of Creston, was taken into custody and faces two counts of Theft in the 2nd Degree, for allegedly taking both pickup trucks. He remains held in the Adair County Jail on a $10,000 bond.  Schamp told authorities he fell asleep at the wheel of the Dodge before it went into the ditch, and then found the Ford pickup with the keys in it, before taking the vehicle.

In an unrelated note, 45-year-old Scott William Richard Funke, of Grimes, was arrested Nov. 12th at the Polk County Jail, on an Adair County felony warrant  for domestic abuse offender in possession or control of a firearm/weapon and possession of a controlled substance/1st offense. His bond was set at $5,000.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests and incidents that took place between Oct. 16th and Nov. 11th. On Nov. 11th, Deputies arrested 35-year-old Michael Ray Simpson for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. He was transported to the Adams County Jail, and held without bond. On the 10th of November, Deputies responded to a disturbance call at the Cenex gas station, and upon further investigation issued a Juvenile Referral to a 16-year old male, for OWI/1st offense, Minor in Possession of Alcohol and Open Container. The teen was then released to the custody of his parents.

On Nov. 9th, Adams County Deputies arrested 57-year-old Edwin Nelson Thomas, for Violation of a No Contact Order. He later posted bond, and was released. On Oct. 26th, 34-year-old Daniel Reyes was arrested following a traffic stop on Highway 34 at Tulip Avenue. Reyes was charged with Driving While Revoked. He was being held in the Adams County Jail on $2,000 bond.

On the 17th, a traffic stop at Highway 25 and 250th Street in Adams County resulted in the arrest of 32-year-old Sarah Ann Bennett, for Domestic Abuse Assault and three counts of Child Endangerment. She was being held without bond in the Adams County Jail. And, on Oct. 16th, Adams County Deputies arrested 31-year-old Eric Alan Vannausdle for OWI/1st offense. He was held until making an appearance before the magistrate.