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Iowa City man who posed as police detective on social media pleaded to witness tampering
He retaliated against officer who testified against protesters
Trish Mehaffey
Jan. 17, 2025 1:02 pm
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IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man accused of posing in social media accounts as a University of Iowa police detective — in retaliation for the detective testifying in campus protesters’ trials — pleaded Thursday to witness tampering.
Daniel Stephen Kauble, 30, initially charged with third-degree harassment and identity theft, pleaded to tampering with a witness or juror, an aggravated misdemeanor.
According to the plea, he admitted to communicating over the social media platform X with UI Police Det. Ian Mallory between Feb. 8 and 25, 2024, which he “intended and expected” Mallory to see and would “likely to cause Ian Mallory annoyance.”
Kauble admitted to doing so in retaliation because Mallory had testified against two of his friends.
He faces up to two years in jail, but will ask for a deferred judgment and probation at sentencing, according to court documents.
According to the complaint, Kauble set up an email and X accounts under Mallory’s name the same day, Feb. 8, 2024, that a jury found two protesters guilty of disorderly conduct.
Elizabeth Jorgensen, 28, and Isadora Kippes, 26, were found guilty of disorderly conduct Feb. 8, 2024. The jury could not reach agreement on the other charges — fifth-degree criminal mischief — the two faced. The prosecution agreed to dismiss those charges and recommended deferred judgments.
Kauble used the X account to “repeatedly” post messages intended to “disparage, annoy, harass, and engender public contempt for Ian Mallory,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also stated the use of these fake accounts were intended to “harass” Mallory and in retaliation for his testimony.
Mallory had no knowledge of the accounts set up in his name and didn’t consent to them, the criminal complaint stated.
On Feb. 9, 2024, Kauble sent a message to one of the protesters Mallory had arrested, who had a trial in March 2024, in which he stated he hoped the posts made Mallory “hella mad.”
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