(In an update to our previous report w/regard to search warrants)

DES MOINES, IOWA — Twenty-seven defendants are facing federal criminal charges as part of a joint federal and state investigation of a heroin and fentanyl drug trafficking organization. Twenty-one defendants are from Des Moines, five are from Chicago, and one is from Knoxville.

Most of the defendants were arrested on July 21, 2021; three individuals have yet to be arrested. The following defendants are charged with federal drug offenses in two criminal indictments:
• Malek Shawn Holmes, age 21, of Des Moines
• Pierre Fontain Black, age 30, of Des Moines
• Deshawn Levell Greer, age 29, of Des Moines
• Desmond Lamar Howard, age 30, of Des Moines
• Carl Murphy, age 52, of Chicago, Illinois
• Earl Otis Clay, III, age 29, of Des Moines
• Gregory Izell Spight, age 42, of Des Moines
• Michael Byrd, age 28, of Chicago, Illinois
• Azim Abdul-Ahad, age 22, of Des Moines
• Ronald Harris, age 35, of Des Moines
• Derrick Fleming, age 27, of Chicago, Illinois
• Patrick Staples, age 28, of Chicago, Illinois
• Brandon Reed, age 28, of Chicago, Illinois
• Tabaris Brown, age 22, of Des Moines
• Dandre Cox, age 21, of Des Moines
• Daeante Dewayne Neely, age 28, of Des Moines
• Elijah Seymour, age 33, of Des Moines
• Felicia Olson, age 29, of Des Moines
• Sarah Hume, age 39, of Des Moines
• Andrew Price, age 29, of Des Moines
• Jason Beaman, age 46, of Knoxville
• Jamisha Canada, age 44, of Des Moines
• Tonie Canada, age 39, of Des Moines
• Rickey’a Dee Jackson, age 22, of Des Moines
• Devante Jave Taylor, age 26, of Des Moines
• Tyler Robert Wood, age 30, of Des Moines
• Zakar Jeffrey, age 28, of Des Moines

All defendants arrested on July 21 have or will soon appear in federal court on the charges. The charges stem from a months’ long investigation into heroin and fentanyl distribution within the Des Moines area. The charges carry maximum penalties of up to life imprisonment, with a ten-year mandatory minimum prison term as to Malek Holmes, and five-year mandatory minimum prison terms as to Pierre Black, Deshawn Greer, Carl Murphy, Earl Clay, III, Gregory Spight, Michael Byrd, Azim Abdul-Ahad, Ronald Harris, Derrick Fleming, Patrick Staples, Brandon Reed, Tabaris Brown, Daeante Neely, Felicia Olson, Andrew Price, Jason Beaman, Jamisha Canada, and Tonie Canada. The public is reminded that charges contain only accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The charges were announced by Richard D. Westphal, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. Investigating and assisting agencies include: the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force; Central Iowa Gang Task Force; Des Moines Police Department; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; Polk County Sheriff’s Office; Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Iowa State Patrol; Iowa Division of Intelligence and Fusion Center; Iowa State Patrol SWAT; United States Marshals Service; Central Iowa Drug Task Force; Drug Enforcement Agency; Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force East; Homeland Security Investigations; Altoona Police Department; Story County Sheriff’s Office; Ames Police Department; Norwalk Police Department; West Des Moines Police Department; Ankeny Police Department; METRO Star; SERT; Iowa 5th Judicial District; Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago; Federal Bureau of Investigation Kansas City; Federal Bureau of Investigation Minneapolis; Federal Bureau of Investigation Omaha; and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).

OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

(Radio Iowa0 – Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra suggests the expansion of 5-G cellular communication could interfere with weather radar and the ability to get a decent forecast. Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, addressed the topic during this week’s meeting of the U-S House Science, Space and Technology Committee, saying it’s vital to have reliable eyes on the sky.

“Getting accurate weather information can save both lives and livelihoods of those in my district,” Feenstra says. “We saw several tornadoes last week in Iowa.” He says a report from the Government Accountability Office revealed multiple agencies must improve collaborative efforts to prevent interference with the ability to predict the weather. Feenstra says global positioning system satellites, which aid navigation, could also be impacted.

“A report…suggested that we have lost the ability to rely on GPS due to an outage,” Feenstra says. “It would cost our economy about a billion dollars a day if this happens. An outage during the springtime planting season could increase losses closer to $1.5 billion a day.” Feenstra says he’s working to find a remedy.

“I am currently drafting legislation, trying to find technological solutions to weather radar blockages and ghost echoes,” he says. Feenstra says 5-G expansion is important, but cannot come at the expense of accurate weather forecasting models that ag producers in his district rely on every day.

(Radio Iowa) – A nine-year-old from Spencer is preparing for a year of travel around the state as Li’l Miss Iowa. Caitlyn Barr participated in the pageant last year and won it this year. “My favorite parts have been meeting new people and having fun and I decided to come back this year because I didn’t win and I wanted to have that experience again,” she says. The pageant encourages contestants to focus on volunteering and community involvement.

“I volunteered at ‘Kindness for Covid’…One thing we did is we sang outside the hospital for Christmas,” she says. “That was really fun. I got to meet some new kids and we went to a nursing home and made signs for them, like one said, ‘You are loved’ or ‘Get Well Soon’ or ‘You are the best’.” During the pageant, Barr was recognized for having the best interview with the judges for contestants in her age group. Barr, who is entering fourth grade this fall, says after high school she’d like to be an Olympic gymnast and a cheerleader at the University of Northern Iowa.

Caitlyn Barr

“Then I’d like to be a teacher or a police officer, but I really want to be the teacher,” she says. The Miss Iowa Youth Program started 28 years ago for girls between the ages of six and 12. A Li’l Miss Iowa and a Junior Miss Iowa are crowned each year at a pageant held in Muscatine.

DES MOINES– Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Thursday) announced her appointment of Gina Badding as a judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals. Badding, of Carroll (Iowa), currently serves as a district judge in Judicial Election District 2B. She previously practiced law with Neu, Minnich, Comito, Halbur, Neu & Badding, P.C., in Carroll. Badding received her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and her law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Judge Gina Badding (Iowa Judicial Branch official photo)

The Iowa Court of Appeals is Iowa’s intermediate appellate court. It is composed of nine judges and decides appeals from district courts across Iowa. Badding will fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Richard H. Doyle of Des Moines.

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Insurance Division reports a Pottawattamie County man recently entered an Alford plea in Pott. County District Court, to a (Class B) Felony charge of Ongoing Criminal Conduct. Officials say as part of his plea, 39-year-old Chad Mackland, of Council Bluffs, received a deferred judgment, was placed on probation for three years, was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay $30,000 in victim pecuniary damages.

On July 9,  2021 the Iowa Insurance Division filed a consent order which permanently revoked Mackland’s Iowa resident insurance producers license. His sentence followed an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

Booking photo supplied by the Pottawattamie County Jail.

[Updated] (Radio Iowa) Former Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer of Cedar Rapids is launching a campaign for the U-S Senate today (Thursday) — with a video on social media that appears to be an announcement to a room of supporters. “I wanted to just talk to Iowans and talk to folks in this room and so that’s what we’re doing,” she said to start the video. Finkenauer, a Democrat, is a former state legislator who was elected to the U.S. House in 2018 and lost her bid for a second term in 2020. Dave Muhlbauer (MULL-bow-er), a former Crawford County Supervisor, announced he is running the Iowa Democratic Party’s U-S Senate nomination last month.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has been raising money for his campaign account, but has not yet said whether he’ll seek reelection in 2022. Finkenauer’s campaign news release says she’ll focus on blue collar values and does not mention Grassley. But Finkenauer’s announcement VIDEO mentions politicians who’ve been in Washington for decades. “You see it’s politicians like Senator Grassley and Mitch McConnell that should know better, but they are so obsessed with power that they oppose anything that moves us forward,” she says in the video.

Abby Finkenauer

Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says had a disastrous record as a member of the U.S. House and — in a reference to her 2020 loss — Kaufmann says he looks forward to seeing even more Iowans reject Finkenauer in 2022. Grassley has said he’ll announce this fall whether he’ll seek an eighth term in the U-S Senate.

Des Moines, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Division of Insurance report a Davenport man, 31-year-old Dustin Cory Jungvirt, recently pled guilty to one (Class D) Felony count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information. The charge and plea was the result of an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

Jungvirt’s plea stems from an investigation that began in April 2018 which determined Jungvirt made material misrepresentations in a renter’s insurance claim by lying about the date and time of loss in order to obtain benefits he would not have been entitled to.

Following his guilty plea, Jungvirt was sentenced to five years in prison to be served consecutively with recent convictions on unrelated offenses. Jungvirt was also ordered to pay court costs along with a suspended fine of $750.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

The broadcast News at 8:05-a.m., with Ric Hanson.

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On Thursday, July 22, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced the approval of Iowa’s American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) plan and distributed remaining ARP ESSER funds to them. Iowa’s plan details how the state is using and plans to use ARP ESSER funds to safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and equitably expand opportunity for students who need it most, particularly those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, the Department distributed two thirds of the ARP ESSER funds, totaling $81 billion, to 50 states and the District of Columbia. The remaining third of the funding to states will be made available once state plans are approved. Iowa is receiving $775 million total in ARP ESSER funds, and today’s approval of their plan will result in the release of the final $258 million. Additionally, the Department approved plans for Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, and New Mexico. Earlier this month, the Department approved the plans for 11 other states and the District of Columbia.

The ARP ESSER state plans approved by the Department today, including Iowa’s, show how states are using federal pandemic resources to support safe in-person instruction and meet the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of students—with a focus on the students most impacted by the pandemic. For example:

• Addressing the Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: The Iowa Department of Education (IDOE) will support school districts to implement evidence-based interventions and practices to be determined that address accelerated learning in the context of COVID-19. The IDOE also will train and provide coaching through a statewide implementation network and provide curated lists of evidence-based interventions and practices from reviewed organizations.
• Investing in Summer Learning and Expanded Afterschool Programs and Supporting Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs: The IDOE will support school districts to select and implement evidence-based interventions and practices that address summer school programming in the context of COVID-19. IDOE also will use ARP ESSER funds to support implementation of evidence-based comprehensive after-school programs that integrate before- and after-school programs and wraparound care.

A total of 41 states and the District of Columbia have submitted their ARP ESSER state plans to the Department. The Department is reviewing the plans expeditiously and is in contact with states to ensure their plans meet all necessary requirements in order to access the remaining funds, as outlined in the ARP. The Department also is in contact with states that have not yet submitted plans, the vast majority of which are due to state board of education or legislative review requirements.

The distribution of ARP ESSER funds is part of the Department’s broader effort to support students and districts as they work to reengage students impacted by the pandemic, address inequities exacerbated by COVID-19, and build our education system back better than before. In addition to providing $130 billion for K-12 education in the American Rescue Plan to support the safe reopening of K-12 schools and meet the needs of all students, the Biden-Harris Administration also has:

• Released three volumes of the COVID-19 Handbook.
• Held a National Safe School Reopening Summit.
• Prioritized the vaccination of educators, school staff and child care workers. As of the end of May an estimated 84% of teachers and school staff were fully vaccinated.
• Provided $10 billion in funding for COVID-19 testing for PreK-12 educators, staff, and students.
• Launched a series of Equity Summits focused on addressing inequities that existed before, but were made worse by the pandemic.
• Released a report on the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on underserved communities.
• Developed a Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse elevating hundreds of best practices to support schools’ efforts to reopen safely and address the impacts of COVID-19 on students, educators, and communities.

In addition to the actions the Biden Administration has taken to reopen schools, the President has proposed critical investments through his Build Back Better agenda that will enable schools to rebuild stronger than they were before the pandemic, such as investing billions to build a diverse educator workforce, expand access to pre-K to all families, and invest in school infrastructure, among other provisions.

The broadcast News at 7:07-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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