Tag: Cedar Rapids
Debra Ann Vaughn, Bank Fraud, Iowa 2026
⏱ 2 min read Debra Ann Vaughn, a 67-year-old woman from Springville, Iowa, has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for stealing over $500,000 from her employer, a veteran-owned small business in Cedar Rapids. Vaughn, who worked as the company’s bookkeeper, carried out the sophisticated embezzlement scheme between 2013 and 2021. She created…
Eric Leo Newsom, Tampering with a Consumer Product, Iowa 2026
⏱ 3 min read An Eastern Iowa occupational therapist’s dirty secret is out: Eric Leo Newsom, 34, stole pain meds from patients and replaced them with zinc tablets, leaving one cancer patient to suffer in agony. Newsom, who owned and operated a company providing occupational therapy services to patients in Eastern Iowa, began diverting narcotics…
Devieon Jermaine-Oliver Irvin, Possession of a Firearm as a Felon, Iowa 2025
⏱ 2 min read Devieon Jermaine-Oliver Irvin, a 21-year-old felon from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was caught with a loaded gun in his residence in Marion, Iowa, on March 13, 2025. While investigating a theft, police officers discovered that Irvin was sending text messages to a 13-year-old juvenile, discussing providing the minor with drugs. Irvin, who…
Dawson Sanderson, Child Sex Exploitation, Iowa 2021
⏱ 2 min read A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children and possessing child pornography. Dawson Sanderson, 24, was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Judge C.J. Williams on April 27, 2026. According to court records, Sanderson used the internet to try to persuade, induce, and…
Larnell Logan, Felony Firearm Possession, Iowa 2025
⏱ 2 min read A six-time felon fired a gun eight times in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa neighborhood on November 15, 2023. Larnell Logan, 41, of Frankfort, Illinois, terrorized a home, demanding money and threatening to kill everyone before fleeing the scene. Logan, who has five felony convictions, including domestic abuse assault by strangulation and…
Joshua Brandon Johnson, Loan Fraud, California 2022
⏱ 3 min read In a brazen COVID-19 loan scam, Joshua Brandon Johnson, 34, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, laundered over $20,000 in fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan money. Johnson’s scheme unfolded in June 2021, when he received the cash, claiming to be a barber who earned nearly $100,000 in 2020. In reality, he…
James Merlin Hall, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Iowa 2026
⏱ 2 min read A six-time felon is headed to the federal pen after Cedar Rapids cops found him with a gun. James Merlin Hall, 48, was sentenced to 5 years in prison on April 22, 2026, for possessing a firearm after having six felony convictions. On August 19, 2025, police searched Hall’s recreational vehicle…
Rose Lee Beranek, Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, Iowa 2025
⏱ 2 min read A 44-year-old Cedar Rapids woman is heading to the slammer for 12 years after getting caught with nearly two pounds of methamphetamine in her car. Rose Lee Beranek was driving from Arizona to Iowa in February 2024 when she was pulled over by law enforcement in Oklahoma. A search of her…
Leondraie Antwarn Johnson, Cocaine Trafficking, Iowa 2024
⏱ 2 min read A brazen cocaine dealer, Leondraie Antwarn Johnson, 36, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was caught red-handed with a stash of cocaine and marijuana after a high-speed chase with police. Johnson sped away in his car after a traffic stop on September 13, 2024, and tried to dump the evidence in a yard…
Kyle Cook, Threatening to Injure, Iowa 2025
⏱ 2 min read A 36-year-old Cedar Rapids man’s twisted game of terrorizing a victim online has landed him 2 years in federal prison. Kyle Cook repeatedly threatened to kill a victim via Facebook Messenger between May and June 2025, with some of the threats so graphic they made agents’ skin crawl. Cook’s threats didn’t…
