Lang
5/14/26
A former University of Iowa basketball player has been arrested on a felony theft charge.
48-year-old Joseph Fermino was arrested on Thursday on a warrant from the Clive Police Department. Fermino played basketball for Iowa during the 1999-2000 season for then-coach Steve Alford.
The owner of Walter Roofing in Clive, Jesse Rittenhouse, told KCJJ last month that he hired Fermino last year, but recently had to let him go after a poor job performance. Rittenhouse said further investigation determined Fermino had been having customers write their final checks to Fermino’s personal LLC, telling them the company had different LLC names for its Des Moines and North Liberty locations. Rittenhouse claims Fermino also stole a television from the company office.
Rittenhouse told KCJJ the total loss to Walter Roofing was $9,032.42.
2nd Degree Theft carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction.
Fermino was given a deferred judgment on a 1st Degree Theft charge in 2020. North Liberty Police claimed Fermino charged over $10,000 to his employer’s company credit card for what he claimed were expenses for providing catering for prospective medical sales clients. The catering company was listed as “Lotus Catering”, which Fermino claimed was his wife’s part-time business.
An investigation determined that Lotus Catering did not exist, and that Fermino had just been swiping the company’s card on a square device and transferring the money into his personal account.