For Immediate Release

Sentencing Date Set for March 19, 2026, at 1:30PM for Owner of Hawkeye Waste Systems, Inc. for Failure to Maintain Workers’ Comp Insurance

January 22, 2026 (JOHNSON COUNTY, IA) – Sentencing is now set for March 19, 2026, at 1:30pm in Johnson County District Court for James Watts, 83, of Bettendorf, Iowa. Watts pled guilty on January 16, 2026, to the charge of Failure to Maintain Workers’ Comp Insurance, a Class D Felony, on behalf of himself and Hawkeye Waste Systems. 

In April 2025, Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith filed charges against Hawkeye Waste Systems and four of its employees and corporate officers for Failure to Maintain Worker’s Compensation Insurance after an employee died after a workplace accident at their Iowa City location. Matthew Reuwsaat died on November 9, 2024, from injuries sustained in a workplace incident. An investigation by the Iowa Division of Worker’s Compensation revealed that Hawkeye Waste Systems did not have worker’s compensation insurance as required by Iowa Code.

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Read a PDF of this release with the Guilty Plea and Sentencing Order attached.