Trish Mehaffey

A newly created position for a prosecutor with the Linn County Attorney’s Office will focus on lower level felony crimes - where offenders have the best chance for a resolution without prison time. The position will also help lower caseloads for others prosecuting violent crimes.

A Cedar Rapids woman was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for fatally stabbing boyfriend last year. Judge orders her to serve two years of a mandatory minimum, instead of the possible 10, before being eligible for parole.

A judge denied moving a Woodbury County teen’s Iowa City robbery and assault case to juvenile court based on the “extremely egregious and violent” offenses and his past multiple delinquencies in juvenile court. He is accused of attacking a stranger in Mercer Park and robbing him of money.

A 3-week-old baby and 6-year-old child were found “crying and sweating profusely” in a locked car on Monday at the Walmart on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. The temperature inside the car was 100 degrees. The driver and mother of the 3 week old was charged with child endangerment.

Cedar Rapids woman received 4 year probation for abandoning stepchildren, an 8-year-old and 6-year-old, on Tower Terrace Road, near I-380, in June 2024. She also was sentenced for falsely reporting their father shot her in the stomach about two months later.

A Woodbury County 17-year-old asked a judge to move his assault and robbery case from adult court back into juvenile court. He is accused of assaulting and robbing an Iowa City man at Mercer Park in June. His three co-defendants, all 16-years-old, remain in juvenile court.

A Cedar Rapids man, who turned a drug transaction into armed robbery, was sentenced to over 11 years in federal prison. He stole fentanyl from a drug dealer.

A Tiffin man, who directed and recorded videos of child porn involving a toddler, was sentenced to 37 years in prison. He also must pay $6,000 in victim restitution.

A Nebraska man, who tried to open exit doors during a flight from Omaha last week and caused an emergency landing in Cedar Rapids, will remain in jail pending trial. A detention hearing didn’t go forward because he didn’t have a place to stay if released.

A Marion man, previously charged in Linn and Jones counties with sex exploitation and enticement, now faces federal indictment, with additional child porn charges.

An Iowa City teen who participated in a large fight, stabbing three people outside a bar in 2023, pleaded Wednesday to lesser charges and plans to ask for a deferred judgment.

A judge will allow part of the confession of a Marion man accused of bludgeoning 4 people with a metal bar in June of 2024. His statements made to law enforcement regarding motive and details won’t be allowed at trial because he wasn’t read Miranda rights at that time.

A Cedar Rapids man who distributed “thousands” of fentanyl pills was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

A Marion man was sentenced to more than nine years in federal prison for possessing multiple machine gun conversion devices. Prosecutors said he had 18 devices, which convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns, as defined under federal law.

A Des Moines man has been indicted on eight charges of sex trafficking four Iowa women for prostitution in Illinois and North Dakota. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum of 15 years on each sex trafficking charge and up to 10 years on each transportation charge.