Darrell L. Jones, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and two counts of possession of a firearm as a felon on June 25. His sentencing was initially scheduled for Aug. 2, but was continued several times.

In a motion in arrest of judgement filed last month, then-defense attorney Stanley Roush wrote that Jones believes the Iowa Department of Corrections has a “silent policy” to treat any gun charge more severely as a crime of violence and because Jones was not informed of this purported policy, his plea was not knowing and voluntary. Jones also argues that his plea was not knowing and voluntary because he was not informed at the plea hearing that one of the charges is a forcible felony.

District Court Judge John Flynn heard arguments for the motion on Monday and issued his ruling denying the motion on Tuesday.

Flynn found that because the crime of assault is no longer a lesser-included offense to the crime of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, the intimidation charge is not a forcible felony.

Flynn also found that Jones’ initial guilty plea was made knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently, denying the motion in arrest of judgement in its entirety.

Jones will be sentenced on Nov. 15.

Jones was initially taken into custody on June 24, 2020, on a material witness warrant in relation to a shooting just weeks earlier in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood that left two men dead and two women injured.

Two Fort Dodge men, 25-year-old Jamael Cox and 47-year-old Tyrone Cunningham, were killed in a volley of bullets in the early morning hours of June 16, 2020. Two others, Marissa Andrews, 21, of Fort Dodge, and Jayne Barton, 30, of Wesley, were injured but survived.

Jones, along with four other men, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder on Nov. 10. He was also charged with one count of possession of a firearm as a felon.

The state eventually dismissed Jones’ two murder charges and weapons charge in April, citing information gathered through depositions that led prosecutors to believe the charges couldn’t be proven at trial by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Jones was then charged with two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and another count of felon in possession of a firearm the same day.

He faces up to five years in prison for each of the three charges he is pleading guilty to, as well as fines of up to $7,500 for each charge.