Plea Agreement Reached for Man Arrested Outside Obama Event

Story Created: Aug 19, 2008 at 11:42 AM CDT Story Updated: Aug 19, 2008 at 11:44 AM CDT DES MOINES (AP) - Prosecutors have reached a plea agreement with a man who was charged with carrying an unlawful knife outside an Ottumwa hotel where Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and his family stayed in July 2007. The case was against Davit Zakaryan, an Armenian native who was in Ottumwa selling campaign memorabilia when he arrested on July 4, 2007, outside the hotel where Obama and his family stayed the previous night. Zakaryan and his attorney maintained the item found in a seat pocket of Zakaryan's vehicle was an ornamental letter opener, not a knife. This month, prosecutors dismissed the knife charge and Zakaryan pleaded guilty to a simple misdemeanor charge of interference with official acts. Under the agreement,... [read full story]