(Radio Iowa) – A Shenandoah woman facing two murder charges has taken a plea deal and avoided going to trial. Online court records indicate 45-year-old April Montello-Roberts was facing two first-degree murder charges, plus burglary, robbery, and attempted murder charges in connection to a crime spree last August in Council Bluffs that left two men dead. The plea agreement will see Montello-Roberts sentenced to 50 years in prison with at least 30 years served. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber says this was going to be very first jury trial since the COVID pandemic shutdown. “We had to rent a ballroom at the Mid-America Center to do jury selection. The plan was to bring in 150 prospective jurors and try to get a jury picked in this case. That was really where we were in that process of trying to just figure out the logistics,” Wilbur says.

Montello-Roberts (File photo)

Wilber says he had been in communication with Montello-Roberts’ attorney and they were eventually able to settle on a deal. “We had offered her a deal months ago: 50 years with a minimum of 35 — they came back and said how about half that, 25 with a minimum of 17-and-a-half and we said no,” according to Wilber. “The judge brought up to us that we were about to bring 150 people in, probably at least one-third of whom are elderly, into this case. He asked if there was any room where we could get this settled where we don’t have to put those civilians at risk. We really started sitting down and talking in earnest.”

Montello-Roberts is accused of going on a crime spree last August with 28-year-old Troy Petersen of Essex and they were accused of killing two men in a series of robberies over several days. Their crime spree ended in a standoff with police where Petersen was shot to death. Wilber says the plea deal was based on the Montello-Roberts’ age at her earliest possible release date. “In that case where they’re really not disputing whether she was guilty or not, you’re sort of fighting over what amount of time should she serve,” Wilber explains. “We looked at a case where we figured that at 79, the chances that she got out of prison alive were probably not great. At 74, they’re probably still not great, honestly. But, she at least has some hope and I think that’s what — for her — inclined her to accept what we offered.”

Wilber says the families of the two men killed said they would accept the plea deal. “It’s a tough call always,” Wilber says. “I have to take into account what the particular defendant did, what the victims’ families want, criminal records that we’re looking at, what are we doing to the criminal justice system by taking a case to trial. We’ve got all of those factors that we have to look at.”

Online court records show the new charges include two counts of assault while participating in a felony, plus the original robbery, burglary, and attempted murder of a peace office charges. Police say Petersen was the person who fired the shots that killed the individuals, but that Montello-Roberts was a participant in the event. Montello-Roberts was scheduled to go to trial on September 14th — but will now be sentenced on September 8th.

(Radio Iowa) – The spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health who was fired in July — during the coronavirus pandemic — is now suing the state and the governor. Polly Carver-Kimm, a former journalist, says she was forced out because she tried to provide information about COVID-19 to the media and thus, to the public. Tom Duff, the West Des Moines lawyer representing Carver-Kimm, says the suit has multiple sections. Duff says, “It alleges a violation of the state whistleblower law and alleges that the stripping or removing of Polly’s duties and the stifling of information by the Reynolds administration amounts to mismanagement, abuse of authority, and in the midst of an ongoing state pandemic, a danger to public health and safety.”

Carver-Kimm has also filed claims with the State Appeal Board against the State of Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds, and Reynolds’ communications director Pat Garrett. Those claims allege she was illegally terminated because of her persistent efforts to comply with Iowa’s Open Records law, that her firing violates public policy, and violates her free speech rights under the Iowa Constitution.  “During my nearly 13 years at the Iowa Department of Public Health, I never had a negative job review and I was never removed from a project,” Carver-Kimm says. “That all changed just days after the governor’s office became involved. From that point on, I was systematically cut out of the COVID-19 response, beginning with being removed from being able to respond to media requests.”

She says the only explanation she ever received was that she was “not a team player” and that her actions were causing friction with the governor’s staff. “At the time of my termination, I was told the department was restructuring,” Carver-Kimm says. “At the time of my firing, there were five people doing the job I used to do by myself. That’s not restructuring, that’s a systematic and deliberate effort to thwart open communication.” During a video news conference this (Thursday) morning, Carver-Kimm was asked by a reporter if she thought the public has all the information it needs regarding the pandemic. “I do believe very strongly in the Iowa Department of Public Health and that it has the public’s best interests,” Carver-Kimm says. “The governor’s office chose to use the information that it was presented in the way that would best serve the governor’s agenda and needs.”

Carver-Kimm is married to Radio Iowa sports director Todd Kimm. She was a long-time reporter and morning talk show host at a Des Moines radio station before she was hired at public health in 2007.

A semi pulling a trailer loaded with a wind turbine fan overturned Wednesday afternoon, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 65-year old Douglas Gary Goldetsky, of Atkins, AR., was driving a 2020 Kenworth. When he turned south onto Joshua Avenue, a steerman in a separate vehicle advised that for some reason, the steerman lost connection with the rear axle, and advised Goldetsky to stop. Before he could do so, however, the rear wheels went into the east ditch, which in-turn, pulled the trailer and tractor into the ditch. Once in the ditch, the entire unit tipped over. The accident happened at around 1-p.m.

The driver complained if pain, but did not require immediate treatment or transport to the hospital. The Kenworth sustained $15,000 damage. A property fence sustained about $500 damage during the incident.

DES MOINES – All Test Iowa sites, including clinic sites, will be closed on Monday, Sept. 7th, for the Labor Day holiday. According to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Office, sites will reopen for testing according to their regular schedules beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 8th.

Individuals who want to be tested for COVID-19 at any site must first complete the online assessment at testiowa.com. They will then be directed to schedule an appointment.   Locations and hours of operation for all test sites can be found at testiowa.com or coronavirus.iowa.gov.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have charged a woman with murder in the death of a man who was shot to death in a neighborhood near Drake University. Police on Thursday charged 33-year-old Whitney Ann Davis, of Des Moines, with first-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old Sean Newman, of Des Moines.

Officers were called to investigate a shooting Wednesday afternoon, just east of the Drake campus. They found Newman dead, apparently from a gunshot wound. Police say Davis was being held in the Polk County jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Des Moines man, 45-year old Marlin Santana Thomas, has been charged in federal court with sex trafficking eight victims. In August, a United States Grand Jury filed a Superseding Indictment in the United States District Court charging Thomas with the offenses. Thomas appeared before a federal magistrate judge on September 2, 2020, and is currently detained in federal custody.

Thomas is charged with sex trafficking seven adult victims by force, threats of force, fraud, and coercion, and is alleged to have sex trafficked one minor victim. Thomas is charged with
trafficking victims over nearly a decade, from as early as September 2009, up until February 2018. Thomas is also charged with distributing heroin to two victims, who were under the age of twenty-one, and with several related offenses, such as transporting victims out of state for the purpose of prostitution. In late February 2018, Thomas was arrested as part of a separate federal drug investigation, for which he is currently serving a federal prison term.

The public is reminded that charges contain only accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The defendant is 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 a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
If convicted, Thomas is subject to a fifteen-year mandatory minimum prison term for sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, up to life imprisonment. Sex trafficking of children 14 years
of age and older, without the allegation of force, fraud, or coercion, carries a ten year mandatory
minimum, and a maximum term of life in prison.

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.

If anyone has information about this defendant, Marlin Santana Thomas, they are urged to call the Des Moines Police Department Vice/Narcotics Office at 515-237-1516, or
call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. This case is being investigated by the Des Moines Police Department and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.