Legal News for Desmoins, Iowa

Monica Perkins v. City of Des Mmonies, et al.

Des Moines, Iowa, personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a civil rights violation theory. When Deputy Tart fired, Perkins was approximately sixty to seventy-five feet away from him and standing on the road outside her daughter’s vehicle. As Perkins describes the situation, she was verbally confronting another driver, walking back and forth between her daughter’s vehicle and th... More...

United States of America v. Wenona Oropeza

Woodbury, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substance. A number of times over one year in 2024-2025, Wenona Oropeza, 48, from Omaha, Nebraska, would have other persons drive her from Omaha, Nebraska to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with several ounces of methamphetamine to distribute in Sioux Falls where she could double and tr... More...

United States of America v. Joseph Lee Rhodes

Davenport, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession of child pornography. Joseph Lee Rhodes, Jr., 41, of Muscatine County, was detained pending trial today in connection with an indictment charging him with five counts of transportation of child pornography. On January 14, 2026, Rhodes made his initial appearance. Following the March 2, 2026, detention ... More...

Rosemary Loper v. Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center

Des Moines, Iowa, personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff on a medical malpractice claim. 147.140 Expert witness — certificate of merit affidavit. 1. a. In any action for personal injury or wrongful death against a health care provider basedupontheallegednegligenceinthepracticeofthatprofessionoroccupationorinpatient care, which includes a cause of action for which expert testimony... More...

State of Iowa v. Devon Jackson

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with sexually abusing a teenager. Devon Jackson, 23, is charged with one count of third-degree sex abuse.... More...

State of Iowa v. Devon Jackson

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with sexually abused a minor multiple times in 2025.... More...

United States of America v. Cleveland Stephens, a/k/a “Schmitty”

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Cleveland Stephens, a/k/a “Schmitty,” age 63, from Cedar Rapids, sold pounds of methamphetamine to multiple people. In October 2022, he was in a car that was stopped in Davenport, Iowa. Law enforcement officers searched the car and found cocaine base, cocaine... More...

United States of America v. Michael Clark

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession of firearms by a prohibited person. Clark applied for a weapons permit in 2018, and a sheriff’s office informed him that he was prohibited from possessing guns. In June 2024, while officers were in Clark’s residence to arrest him on a warrant, an officer saw ammunition. Officers subsequently sear... More...

United States of America v. Shawn Zak

Sioux City, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substance and unlawful transportation of a firearm. Shawn Zak, 32, from Carroll, Iowa, admitted that from June 2025 through September 2025, he and others conspired to distribute more than 1500 grams of methamphetamine in the Carroll, Iowa, area. On September 11, 2025, Zak was ap... More...

United States of America v. Bryan Keith Rainey, Jr.

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with unlawful transportation of firearms. Bryan Keith Rainey, Jr., 20, and two co-conspirators fired at least 36 rounds of ammunition at a Des Moines residence occupied by two children and their mother on December 16, 2024. At least 11 rounds hit the house. No one was injured. Three days later, officers located Rain... More...

State of Iowa v. Sie Jones

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represents the Defendant charged with willful injury causing serious injury, assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, and interference with Official Acts. Sie Jones, age 25, was accused of assault and battering a 61-year-old man and polic officers.... More...

Waterloo, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with making a false statement during purchase of firearm. Prescott bought three handguns from a licensed firearms dealer in Cedar Falls between March and August 2024. Prescott lied on forms during these purchases, claiming that she was the actual buyer of the guns. The guns were for Prescott’s fourteen-year-old grands... More...

United States of America v. Robert J. Funderman

Sioux City, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with one count of distribution of child pornography. Robert J. Fundermann, 50, from Anthon, Iowa, admitted that from about April 2023 through April 2025, he distributed and attempted to distribute visual depictions of child pornography. Evidence further showed that Fundermann was grooming a 17-year-old in order to obta... More...

United States of America v. Lashawn Leroy Williams, Jr.

Davenport, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with making a false statement during the purchasing of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Lashawn Leroy Williams, Jr., 24, purchased at least 21 firearms between September 2022 through December 2024 and falsely claimed he was not a drug user and provided a false address. Seven of t... More...

United States of America v. Jewahn Lequez Walton and Preston Manning McDowell Jr.

Davenport, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful transport of firearms. Jewahn Lequez Walton, 28, and Preston Manning McDowell Jr., 26, each tossed loaded firearms from a vehicle driven by Walton while attempting to elude law enforcement in June 2024. In July 2024, McDowell possessed another firearm in Daven... More...

United States of America v. Bryce White

Sioux City, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with sexual exploitation of children and possession of pornography. Bryce White, 42, from Dow City, Iowa, admitted that between August 1, 2023, and August 2024, he coerced minor females into sending him depictions of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct. White used Snapchat to pose as a minor and solicited ... More...

United States of America v. Rusty Todd Johsnon

Des Moines, Iowa criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with false use of a social security number and aggravated identity theft. Rusty Todd Johnston, 46, was convicted of a felony drug offense in Brooks County, Texas in 2005. He was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence with community supervision. Within months, Johnston absconded from his Texas probation and Texas author... More...

United States of America v. Starr Necole Ledford

Sioux City, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs.... More...

United States of America v. Ian Roberts

Des Moines, Iowa, criminal defense lawyers Alfredo Parrish, Alexander Smith, Ben Bergmann, and Brandon Brown represented the Defendant charged with felony possession of a firearm. A federal grand jury indicted Ian Roberts on the charge of illegal alien in possession of a firearm. He was also charged with false statement for employment after claiming he was a U.S. citizen on a U.S. Citizenship a... More...

United States of America v. Jared Stuart Stratton

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possession with intent to distribute drugs.... More...

United States of America v. Kurt Williams

Des Moines, Iowa, pro se defendant accused of sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act. In January 2025, the Government alleged that for more than two decades, property manager Kurt Williams sexually harassed female tenants at various rental dwellings throughout Davenport. The suit alleges that Williams’ conduct included making unwelcome sexual comments and sexual... More...

United States of America v. Anthony Isiah Pennell

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with unlawful transportation of firearms. Information from the sentencing hearing showed that, on October 9, 2024, in a mall parking lot in Cedar Rapids, Anthony Isiah Pennell fired a gun. Following an argument between an individual who was with Pennell and another person, Pennell grabbed a gun out of a purse belongi... More...

United States of America v. Brian Thomas Oakleaf

Sioux City, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with engaging in activities involving or containing child pornography. Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that, from March 1, 2022, through July 29, 2024, Brian Thomas Oakleaf received, distributed, and possessed child pornography, including depictions involving prepubescent minors, on two separate cell... More...

United States of America v. Alan Hernandez Lagunas

Davenport, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with illegal reentry of a deported alien.... More...

United States of America v. Marshawn Ladarius Jeffries

Cedar Rapids, Michigan, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with unlawful transportation of a firearm.... More...