Cedar Rapids man faces more prison time after prosecutor yanks plea deal

CEDAR RAPIDS - A prosecutor withdrew a plea deal Thursday for a man accused of assaulting two deputies by throwing his urine at them on two separate occasions while in jail, after the man asked the court to reset his trial for a second time.

Kwanie Young, 34, of Cedar Rapids, faces a probation revocation on two burglary convictions for 10 years in prison, a pending sentencing in a third burglary for five years and a possible 10 years for the urine assaults, if convicted.    

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said he had been willing to offer Young a plea agreement for a 20-year sentence on all the charges, rather than recommending the court sentence him to 25 years plus a sentencing enhancement of another 15 years.

David Grinde, Young's lawyer, asked the court to continue the case because he is trying to find out how much credit Young would receive against his ultimate sentence because by next month he will have been in the Linn County Jail 697 days. Grinde also pointed out that Young, on his other pending charges, could possibly have additional credit.

Grinde said he has been working with prison officials on the credit issue but does not yet have the answers.

Vander Sanden argued against resetting the trial again, saying there's 'no justifiable reason.” The pending charges are simple allegations and that's why the plea agreement was offered, he said.

'If he isn't ready to accept the plea, then I'm withdrawing it and we will go to trial,” Vander Sanden said.

Vander Sanden added that he isn't only yanking the plea but he plans to charge Young as a habitual offender, which could add the 15-year enhancement for a total of up to 40 years. 

Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns said Thursday this is a 'complicated matter” in regards to the sentencing in the separate cases, and he is going to allow the trial to be reset one more time in order for the defense to determine how much credit Young is to receive.

Bruns said he understood Vander Sanden's stance on withdrawing the plea, which is his prerogative.

Court documents show Vander Sanden amended the assault charges on Friday to include the habitual offender status. The amended trial information will have to be approved by Bruns but he indicated Thursday it would be. 

The two-day trial on the assault charges is reset to April 3 in Linn County District Court.       

Young, for the two felony counts of assault on a peace officer, is accused of tossing a milk carton filled with urine at one deputy in July and throwing a cup of urine on a different deputy in November while in the Linn County Jail.

Sentencing is pending for a burglary conviction from 2015 at Jim's Foods grocery store. He bashed in the front door to gain access inside the closed store on Oct. 11, 2015.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Lars Anderson, earlier in 2015, gave Young probation on two other counts of third-degree burglary at two different homes in 2014 and 2015.

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