Lang
12/24/25
A transient with a colorful criminal history has been arrested again…this time for allegedly conducting a drug deal in a downtown Iowa City parking ramp.
University of Iowa Police report observing 57-year-old Gary Leon Duffel involved in a drug deal with another individual around 11:30 Monday morning in the 5th floor lobby of the Old Capitol Town Center parking ramp. The two began arguing, and officers intervened. Duffel reportedly had a small amount of marijuana in his pocket and was in possession of a glass pipe used for smoking meth. He was arrested and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance – 3rd or Subsequent Offense and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. If convicted on both counts, he faces a maximum of 25 months in jail.
Duffel has numerous previous arrests over the years, including for cutting down the flag outside the Iowa City VFW hall, urinating on the front porch of then-Iowa City City Councilor Mike Wright, taking his clothes off inside The Nickelodeon in Coralville while yelling about his release from the Henry County Correctional Facility, toppling and breaking the Irving Weber statue at the corner of Iowa Avenue and Linn Street, and stealing a keg off a beer truck parked at the former Benton Street Delimart. In June of 2022 Duffel was sentenced to five years in prison in a plea deal regarding an attempted sexual assault case in Coralville.