CEDAR RAPIDS -- Dan Dostart sits in a jail cell, accused of attempting to hire a hit man to kill his ex-wife.

Dostart, formerly of Waterloo and the Quad Cities who now lives in Hiawatha, was indicted last week in federal court in Cedar Rapids for using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. He has pleaded not guilty.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Dostart and his ex-wife, Jamie Mortimer, are both 1983 Waterloo East High grads.

In April, in an interview with the Quad-City Times, the retired Air Force man expressed frustration with how his divorce attorney handled his marriage dissolution. His attorney was Kyle Williamson, who went on to become an associate court judge but now faces federal charges of his own: fraud, identity theft and forgery.

"He just kept making promises and not following through," Dostart said at the time. "He continually let me down."

Dostart's ex-wife could not be reached for comment. Her phone number has been disconnected.

The divorce wound through the courts for 3½ years. Dostart thought the judge made a mistake in the initial disposition of the case, and he asked Williamson to ask the judge to correct it.

"Kyle convinced me to do an appeal," he said. "Nothing happened for eons. He waited to the last possible minute to file for appeal."

The appeal ultimately was partially successful. However, a hearing remained over dueling contempt charges involving the division of property, who owed whom what and visitation with a child Dostart was not given visitation in the divorce decree.

Dostart correctly believed the hearing was on July 20, 2007. However, the online docket for the case said July 26. He e-mailed Williamson to resolve the discrepancy, he said. He did not get a response. He called and again got no response.

He decided to go with what the online docket said, July 26.

"I was actually a no-show for my contempt hearing to fix all those issues," he said of the July 20 hearing. "Kyle was there. He told the judge that I knew when it was and didn't know why I wasn't there."

Judge Gary McKenrick, noting Dostart did not show, dismissed his contempt action. After calculating what each owed the other, Dostart was ordered to pay his ex-wife $611.

"I'm still not seeing my kids. I don't have my property, don't have money because I wasn't there on July 20. 'Plaintiff did not appear' makes it look like I didn't care." Dostart said in April.

A year after the contempt hearing, Dostart attempted to hire the hit man to kill his ex-wife, court documents say.

According to the affidavit filed in U.S. District Court, Cedar Rapids:

On July 14, a man in Idaho received a call from Dostart who told the man about a messy divorce he went through with his ex-wife. Dostart asked the man if he knew of anyone who could "make her disappear, kill her," the affidavit states.

On July 15, the man called Dostart and told him he hadn't found anyone to do the "house repairs" yet. Also on July 15, the man in Idaho and the Hiawatha Police Department made contact, and the man told officers that Dostart was seeking someone to kill his ex-wife.

On July 17, the Idaho man began recording phone conversations with Dostart. Dostart advised the man that he wanted his ex-wife to disappear and that he didn't care how it was done. Dostart told the man that he was upset with his ex-wife because she is getting half of his military retirement and took his kids away from him.

A payment amount of $5,000 was allegedly agreed upon. Dostart also allegedly told the Idaho man that if the killing could be done between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, when Dostart would be on vacation, there would be a 20 percent bonus.

Dostart traveled to the Quad-Cities and photographed his ex-wife's vehicle, place of employment and home. On July 18, Dostart mailed the photographs along with other documents to a post office box in Sagle, Idaho. The man in Idaho was to give the package to the purported hit man. A copy of his ex-wife's Florida driver's license with her picture on it also was in the packet.

The package was intercepted by a U.S. Postal Inspector.

Dostart's criminal attorney, Jane Kelly, declined comment.

Contact Ann McGlynn at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.