Sheriff fumes at lax punishment

By ANDREW MCGINN
a.mcginn@beeherald.com

Fed up with the revolving door of Greene County District Court, Sheriff Jack Williams and Jefferson Police Chief Mark Clouse have taken the extraordinary step of asking residents to attend sentencing hearings.

That way, they say, judges will be forced to look into the eyes of community members before turning criminals loose.

“It’s our last option,” Williams said Monday during a joint interview with The Jefferson Herald and Raccoon Valley Radio. “Until there’s punishment, the crime rate is just going to go up.”

Their frustration with the court system reached new levels Friday when District Associate Judge Joseph McCarville sentenced two men with lengthy criminal records to probation.

One of them — 19-year-old Jesus M. Zuniga Jr., of Jefferson — was already on probation for giving such a high dose of Xanax to a juvenile girl last summer that she was found passed out.

On Friday, Williams said, Zuniga was deemed under oath by law enforcement to be an “imminent threat to the citizens of Greene County.”

“And the judge still chose to continue his probation,” he said.

In the other case, Brett West, 41, of Jamaica, “admitted on the stand that he was a lifelong criminal,” Williams said, with several prior burglary convictions in Greene and Guthrie counties.

In both cases, Assistant Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn argued for five-year prison sentences.

Laehn said he was “vehemently opposed” to probation for either.

“It’s discouraging,” Laehn told the Herald. “I feel especially bad for our law enforcement officers who invest so much time in these cases.

“They’re really doing some excellent investigatory work.”

In return, Williams worries that Laehn’s enthusiasm will be diminished.

“He’s fighting for punishment,” Williams said, “and getting nothing in return.”

Laehn was hired in 2017 as the heir apparent to County Attorney Nic Martino, who is retiring. Laehn is a candidate for county attorney on the November ballot.

Laehn is already credited with a more aggressive approach to criminal cases, and has even accompanied law enforcement on search warrants.

While Martino has gotten a bad reputation for making plea deals, Laehn said the judge always has the final say in punishment.

“That’s a double-edged sword,” he said.

Williams recalled one local case in which a man agreed to serve prison time — only the judge put him on probation instead.

That has only emboldened criminals, Williams said.

“They know there’s no punishment,” he said.

Williams estimates as many as 75 percent of criminals sentenced to probation in Greene County end up violating probation.

Williams admittedly was “livid” at the turn of events Friday in Zuniga’s case — mad enough, in fact, to take public aim at the judge.

He singled out McCarville for his alleged penchant for handing out probation, and then waiving fines, court costs and attorney fees to boot.

McCarville, an associate judge in Iowa’s second judicial district, is a former Fort Dodge public defender who has only been on the bench since September.

District associate judges are initially appointed to the bench, but then come up for election after the first year. Their terms are for six years.

A request for comment from McCarville sent through the District Court administrator wasn’t returned before press time.

Zuniga’s probation revocation hearing on Friday was particularly galling, Williams said, because he’s already been sentenced to probation: two years for burglary and carrying weapons, two years for distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and two more years for an additional burglary conviction.

Zuniga admitted in writing to violating his probation, court records show. Williams said he was additionally charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

McCarville on Friday modified Zuniga’s probation to include substance abuse treatment. Attorney fees were waived.

Zuniga’s continued violation of probation, Williams said, is “the first sign this person has no inclination to rehabilitate.”

Laehn said probation might be the appropriate penalty in cases with no victims.

In October, Zuniga pleaded guilty to the charge of distribution of a controlled substance to a minor and was given probation by McCarville, court records show. The judge suspended his prison sentence and any fines, and waived the cost of his taxpayer-funded attorney.

That was after a local girl, just 13 at the time, was found July 21 passed out after taking Xanax and smoking marijuana.

“When a kid’s involved,” Williams said, “it irritates the hell out of me.”

Williams argues that unless criminals are removed from their element and sent to either prison or jail, nothing will change.

“Even 10 days in a county jail,” he said, “will change the attitude of some people.”

For what it’s worth, sentencing hearings in Greene County are typically held on the second and fourth Fridays of the month.