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Gingerich pleads guilty to 2 of 30 charges, sentencing date set
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 01, 2015


After months of delays in court, a West Branch man struck a plea deal with prosecutors on two of 30 charges ranging from identity theft to forgery.


Timothy Gale Gingerich, 27, accused of stealing nearly $8,000 from Virgil’s Repair Service, agreed on Sept. 4 to plead guilty to one count of third-degree theft and one count of forgery.

Seventh Judicial District Judge Mary E. Howes accepted the plea deal, ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and set sentencing for 9 a.m. Oct. 16 at the Cedar County Courthouse.

In the plea deal, Gingerich admits that last year he stole between $500 and $1,000 from his father’s shop at 607 North Fourth Street.

Court documents show Gingerich faces up to two years in prison and a fine between $625 and $6,250, but that the plea deal asks the judge to give him probation.

The plea states Gingerich must pay a fines and court costs, but also “restitution,” though it does not clarify if restitution will amount to what he pleads guilty to, or the amount investigators say he stole while his father was undergoing chemotherapy and cancer surgery — the reason why Timothy was left in charge of the shop for nearly four months.

An investigation concluded Timothy Gingerich wrote checks on his father’s business account and Virgil Gingerich thinks the actual amount stolen could be as much as $15,000.

If allowed probation, Gingerich must fulfill the terms of the judge’s conditions or the suspended sentence could be imposed.

Gingerich’s attorney is Shawn M. Fitzgerald of Iowa City; the prosecution is represented by Adam W. Blank.

Gingerich was arrested about a year ago and later posted $10,000 bond. A pre-trial conference had originally been set in November 2014, only to be delayed six times until the plea agreement was completed earlier this month.