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News and Investigations
News & Investigations
News Releases and Public Information
Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.
PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Brian Bruchey, Carrie Horstman, and Meghan Petty. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org.
The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.
Oct 2, 2019
Polk County Jail inmate Jesse Lopez charged with solicitation to commit first degree murder
Media Contact: Carrie Horstman, PIO
On October 1, 2019, PCSO detectives charged 40-year-old Polk County Jail inmate Jesusadelaida "Jesse" Lopez with one count solicitation to commit first degree murder (F-1) after she solicited an undercover PCSO detective to kill her husband.
The investigation began in August 2019 when PCSO received information that Lopez was making comments that she wanted her husband, Daniel Lopez, killed. Lopez has been in jail since February 14, 2019, for VOP, unlicensed practice of health care, dispensing drugs without a license, sale of prescription drugs without a license, tampering with evidence, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Click here to read that news release.
During the undercover investigation, Lopez used the inmate account system to call the undercover detective and to send him "Smart Mail" emails from jail. She also sent a letter to an undercover P.O. box. During the conversations and messages, Lopez asked the detective to "remove a tree" from her house, and agreed to pay him $2,000, with $500 being paid up front. She told the detective to make the murder look like a "robbery gone wrong" and to make sure it didn't come back on her.
When detectives interviewed Lopez, she admitted to making the statements.
