Three Burlington men are facing felony charges after police say they conspired to tamper with a witness in an effort to have criminal charges dropped.
According to the Burlington Police Department, 19-year-old Nicholas Connelly, his brother Alex Connelly, 30, and 18-year-old Tavis Teager have each been charged with witness tampering, a Class C felony.
Investigators say the three worked together while Nicholas Connelly was incarcerated, attempting to persuade a robbery victim to change statements previously given to police. Detectives were alerted on December 5th after the victim told officers they wanted to revise their account of a robbery. Police say that claim was contradicted by video evidence.
Authorities later determined the victim had been advised by Alex Connelly to change the statement so Nicholas Connelly could be released from jail. Investigators also uncovered recorded jail calls and phone messages linking all three men to the alleged scheme.
Nicholas Connelly is already facing multiple felony charges, including first-degree robbery, following a November armed robbery and a December police chase that ended in a crash. He remains held at the Des Moines County Jail on a 122-thousand-dollar cash-only bond. Teager is being held on a 10-thousand-dollar cash-only bond, while Alex Connelly has posted bond and waived his preliminary hearing.
All charges remain accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.