Man takes plea agreement in 2014 case
Published 10:35 am Wednesday, March 9, 2016
One the men charged after a July 2014 police raid in Brownsdale uncovered thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen tools, guns and drugs took a plea agreement earlier this week.
Shane Rose, 39, took a plea agreement Monday and pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen property while four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm were dismissed.
Rose, Troy Leeper and John Dehoff faced various felony charges in connection to the raid, which took place a little before 7:30 a.m. on July 26, 2014, at a shed at the 200 block of Fremont Street Southwest. According to a court complaint, deputies were tipped off Friday by the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department in Iowa, which had trail camera footage from a burglary victim which showed a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix owned by Rose entering and leaving the property.
The victim reported multiple tools and guns stolen earlier that week, including a .22-caliber rifle with two magazines, a single-shot .22-caliber rifle, an outboard motor, a power washer, a 5-gallon LP tank with an attached heater, a circular saw, a small refrigerator, air compressor gauges and various tractor batteries, among other things.
Law enforcement raided the shed after they saw mulitple people, including Rose and Dehoff, leave the building Saturday morning.
The three men were arrested, as was Leeper, who was sleeping in the Grand Prix parked near the property. Police saw Dehoff drop a baggie with 3.8 grams of methamphetamine as he was arrested, according to the complaint.
Police found the stolen property from Iowa inside the shed, including one of the rifles hidden in the wall of Rose’s fortified office next to an “elaborate surveillance system,” according to the complaint. Deputies also searched several cars, an RV and Rose’s home, where they uncovered more guns, drug paraphernalia and electronic equipment.
Police found three disassembled 1911 semi-automatic handguns along with two handgun instructional videos at Rose’s home at the 100 block of Cedar Street Northwest. Deputies found several plastic bottles and a lightbulb modified to smoke drugs at the RV as well.
Inside Rose’s 2004 Ford F-150 were several SD memory cards, cell phones, data cards and video cameras, along with an altered tire iron deputies believe was used as a burglary tool, along with a key ring with multiple lock keys and a set of metal knuckles.
Leeper told police he had bought the Pontiac from Rose a month earlier and had driven to Iowa earlier in the week to take showers at public parks in Otranto and St. Ansgar. He also admitted to having .25 grams of meth and a meth pipe inside the car and told deputies he stole items to support his drug habit.
According to the complaint, Leeper said he owned a large tent set up at the 200 block of Fremont Street Southwest, which deputies determined was stolen earlier in the week.
Rose told police he let Leeper stay on the property because he was homeless and denied he stole the tools. According to the complaint, Rose said Leeper allegedly brought the stolen property, including the rifles, outboard motor and other items, to the shed and Rose told him to get rid of it.
Rose has been charged with four counts of possessing firearms as a convicted felon. He has several felony drug convictions, including a third-degree conviction in 2010.
Leeper was previously convicted of fifth-degree drug possession and sentenced to 17 months in prison with about three months credit, along with four years of additional supervised probation with a four-year stayed term for a DWI case.
Dehoff was previously convicted of fifth-degree drug possession and sentenced to 20 years’ supervised probation.
Rose’s sentencing is scheduled for June 2.