STACEY: BREAKING NEWS IN DALLAS COUNTY. ALL CHARGES RELATED TO THE COURTHOUSE BREAK-IN LAST YEAR HAVE BEEN DROPPED. JUSTIN WYNN AND GARY DE MERCURIO WERE CHARGED WITH FELONY BURGLARY IN SEPTEMBER. THEY WERE ACCUSED OF BREAKING INTO MULTIPLE CENTRAL IOWA COURTHOUSES. WE LATER LEARNED STATE JUDICIARY OFFICIALS HAD A CONTRACT WITH THE COMPANY THE MEN WORK FOR, TO CONDUCT TESTS AT MULTIPLE COURTHOUSES. STATE OFFICIALS ADMITTED THEY MADE MISTAKES AND APOLOGIZED. AN ATTORNEY FOR WYNN AND DE MERCURIO SAY THEY ARE RELIEVED TO HAVE THE CHARGES DROPPED BUT ARE FRUSTRATED
Security consultants settle lawsuit over Dallas County Courthouse break-in
Two security consultants have settled their lawsuit with Dallas County and a former sheriff after being arrested for a 2019 break-in at the courthouse.
Updated: 9:30 PM CST Jan 23, 2026
Two security consultants have settled their lawsuit with Dallas County and former sheriff Chad Leonard following their arrest for a 2019 break-in at the Dallas County Courthouse. Gary Demercurio, of Seattle and Justin Wynn, of Naples, Florida, were employed by Coalfire Labs, a cybersecurity firm. They were hired by the Iowa Judicial Branch to test the security of court facilities. They said their agreement with the state protected them from arrest, and the charges were dropped in 2020 (you can see that prior reporting in the video above.) The civil case was set to go to trial on Jan. 26 but was dismissed after the settlement was reached Thursday. KCCI has reached out to Dallas County leaders for more information about the terms of the agreement and is awaiting a response.
DALLAS COUNTY, Iowa —
Two security consultants have settled their lawsuit with Dallas County and former sheriff Chad Leonard following their arrest for a 2019 break-in at the Dallas County Courthouse.
Gary Demercurio, of Seattle and Justin Wynn, of Naples, Florida, were employed by Coalfire Labs, a cybersecurity firm. They were hired by the Iowa Judicial Branch to test the security of court facilities. They said their agreement with the state protected them from arrest, and the charges were dropped in 2020 (you can see that prior reporting in the video above.)
The civil case was set to go to trial on Jan. 26 but was dismissed after the settlement was reached Thursday.
KCCI has reached out to Dallas County leaders for more information about the terms of the agreement and is awaiting a response.