After 21 months, three suspects that were involved in stealing catalytic converters from Jefferson ended with all three going to prison.

January 21, 2021 47-year-old Jason Edward Trotter of Perry, 40-year-old Nicholas Joseph White of Newton and 30-year-old Sharlee Jean Royce of Grinnell stole several catalytic converters from a Jefferson business. The Jefferson Police Department arrested the individuals later that night and each suspect was sentenced to ten years in prison, with White being sentenced in October, then Royce in November and Trotter was sentenced earlier this week.

Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn explains why this is such a big win for this office to get this kind of result.

“So it’s great if we can deter people from coming to Greene County and committing those crimes, I mean, ‘Let it be known that if you come to Greene County and engage in these types of crimes, harm our citizens, steal from our residents, there will be consequences.’ And that’s the message we want to send.”  

Laehn adds one of the main reasons why there was such a gap between the first two suspects getting sentenced and Trotter was because of covid shutting down the court system for a while and Trotter tried to suppress some of the evidence, which was unsuccessful. He notes he is only as good of a prosecutor because of the work of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and in this case, the Jefferson Police Department.

“They do their work, they do it well, they do it with integrity, they do a great investigation, and once that investigation is complete, they pass the baton off to the county attorney’s office. And I want to make sure that I don’t drop that baton. That’s what keeps me motivated, keeps me focused.” 

Laehn is happy with the outcome for all three cases and advocated for prison for each one.