One Eastern Iowan faces charges, another pleads guilty

A former employee in the Dubuque County Recorder’s Office is sentenced to ten years in prison for embezzling from the office.52-year-old James Powers pleaded guilty to stealing and was ordered to pay 45-thousand dollars restitution. After working in the office since 1970, he was fired in May of 2000 after an audit found 95-thousand dollars missing.A Cedar Rapids-area woman will avoid jailtime on charges she neglected some of her pets. A rural Palo woman was convicted in Benton County of animal neglect and of failing to dispose of an animal carcass — a horse. Janis Owens was also given a suspended sentence, fined 350-dollars, and ordered to pay court costs and veterinary fees for another horse that was seized from her property.