Former store manager sentenced to probation for theft

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

A former Charles City retail store manager has been sentenced to three to five years probation after pleading guilty to stealing more than $5,000 from the store.

Joseph Alan Raveling, age 34, pleaded guilty in December in Floyd County District Court to second-degree theft, a Class D felony.

He had been charged in February 2017 with taking $5,370 from several store deposits from the Dollar General Store on Hulan Street between December 2016 and January 2017.

He originally pleaded not guilty and the case was set for trial, but last March his attorney filed notice that he was going to change his plea. That plea hearing was held Dec. 4 and sentencing was set for last Friday.

According to court documents filed Tuesday, District Court Judge Peter Newell sentenced Raveling to up to five years in prison, then suspended that sentence. He fined him $750 plus a 35 percent state surcharge, then suspended that fine as well.

Newell then sentenced Raveling to three to five years of probation with the Iowa Department of Correctional Services, with that department to determine the appropriate length of time.

A suspended sentence means the sentence is not enforced as long as the convicted person meets the terms of his or her probation. If the person violates those terms the original sentence can be imposed.

Newell also order Raveling to abstain from the use of illegal drugs and be subject to random drug testing, and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $3,769 to Dollar General.