Feb 15, 2021
On Tuesday, Deborah Specht, 60, of Marshalltown, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree theft. Specht was originally charged with one count of fraudulent submissions, a class D felony and one count of first-degree theft, a class C felony, following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.
“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. We all pay for insurance fraud in the form of higher insurance costs,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said. “I appreciate the hard work of our Fraud Bureau and all who participated in the prosecution of this case so Ms. Specht was held accountable for her actions.”
February is going to be busy for the criminal justice system in Marshall County.
In November, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended in-person jury trials until Feb. 1 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Friday in Marshall County will be packed with pre-trial conferences more than 25.
Marshall County Clerk of Courts Carol Haney said the pre-trial conferences are intended for the prosecution and defense to come to agreements without juries. If agreements are not reached, then the cases will go to jury trials, with the first one scheduled for Feb. 16. The state court system has 32 separate cases scheduled for Feb. 16 in Marshall County all beginning at 9 a.m.