Judge sentences Iowa man to jail for threat

By the Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:15 pm

A 26-year-old Des Moines, Iowa, man has been sentenced to jail for threatening a Shopko employee with a knife in May.

Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte said he was concerned Yimis Duarte continues to deny his culpability, despite being found guilty at a jury trial in October.

On May 28, Duarte threatened the Shopko employee who chased two shoplifters to a vehicle Duarte was in after the shoplifters took half a dozen canisters of baby formula from the North 27th Street store, according to the state.

At trial, Duarte's attorney, Randy Wertz, argued that Duarte, who came here from Honduras and didn't understand English, was trying to protect his pregnant sister-in-law when he saw the employee in plain clothes try to grab her purse.

In court Tuesday, Otte said it was clear the group in the SUV had come to Lincoln with a clear purpose of being up to no good, and he gave Duarte a 264-day jail sentence.

Wertz said Duarte's father was murdered in Honduras, forcing Duarte to go into hiding with his grandmother. As a result of the Lincoln case, he has an immigration hold and may be deported.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime ... 03286.html