Iowa ex-cop avoids prison, but more criminal charges loom
A former police officer in Carroll and Eagle Grove who admitted to repeatedly stalking a woman and also striking a man in the face will not go to prison for the crimes if he abides by the terms of his probation, court records show.
Walter Pacheco, 28, of Pleasant Hill, was convicted of felony willful injury and misdemeanor stalking, to which he pleaded guilty in July in Polk County District Court. A judge ordered a seven-year suspended prison sentence and five years of probation.
Pacheco will be required to wear a device that tracks his location for the first three years of that probation. The judge also ordered Pacheco to undergo mental health and substance abuse evaluations and seek treatment if the evaluations recommend it.
Previously: A Register investigation: Years after firings, police officers in Iowa can retain credentials
Pacheco had sought deferred judgments for the crimes, which would have allowed him to avoid being a felon and would have enabled him to expunge information about the court cases from the public record. Prosecutors indicated they might seek a prison sentence in light of subsequent allegations of continued harassment of the woman, but Pacheco’s attorney argued that they were bound to the plea agreement that did not include a prison sentence.
Pacheco faces numerous criminal charges for allegedly stalking and threatening the woman after his guilty pleas in July. He is charged with multiple felonies for robbery, burglary, theft, assault and stalking for allegedly stalking and accosting the woman later that month.
Pacheco is also accused of threatening the woman in October in an attempt to get the newer charges against him dropped. He was charged with felony extortion and stalking and misdemeanor tampering with a witness. Pacheco was arrested Nov. 17 and has been jailed since.
Pacheco’s attorney on Wednesday filed for a bond review that might allow him to be released from jail while his new criminal cases are pending. Prosecutors are resisting the request and allege Pacheco has continued to contact the woman after he was jailed. They allege Pacheco instructed his mother to message the woman with his Snapchat account.
“The state is concerned the defendant will continue to intimidate and stalk the victim in order (to) interfere with the prosecution, as evidenced by his prior conduct,” Assistant Polk County Attorney Thomas Tolbert wrote in a recent court filing.
Pacheco has sent messages to the woman that he wanted her to forward to prosecutors that request the pending criminal charges against him be dismissed, Tolbert said. Pacheco might have been successful in persuading the woman to abandon her participation in the criminal proceedings against him: Tolbert indicated in a recent court filing that he will likely ask to use recorded statements of the woman in lieu of her appearance as a trial witness.
Defendants typically have a right to confront witnesses against them, but that right can be forfeited in cases of witness tampering.
“It should be noted that (the woman) has previously failed to appear for a hearing … likely as a direct result of the defendant’s tampering,” Tolbert wrote.
Pacheco faces a trial on Feb. 6, 2023, for the charges related to the July incident. Tolbert has asked to consolidate all of the pending charges against Pacheco and hold one trial for them.
The pending charges are punishable by up to decades in prison if he is convicted.
Pacheco — who also is known by the surname Pacheco Belen — is a former police officer of Carroll and Eagle Grove. He was hired by both departments after an ex-girlfriend alleged he threatened to kill her and her daughter. Pacheco was forced to resign from his Carroll job and was fired by Eagle Grove.
Pacheco has surrendered his peace officer certification, according to Iowa Law Enforcement Academy records.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ex-Carroll, Eagle Grove cop gets probation in stalking case
