Associated Press

DUBUQUE, Ia. — A man whose DNA linked him to Dubuque sexual assaults reported years ago has been given 40 years in prison.

Martel Fountain Sr. was sentenced earlier this week, the Telegraph Herald reported. He'd pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault.

Court documents say Fountain assaulted three women in 2011 after forcing his way into their homes. The documents say another was raped in 2014 after Fountain forced her into her garage.

A DNA sample taken from Fountain in March 2018 after his arrest in a federal drug case linked him to the four Dubuque assaults, Iowa prosecutors said. DNA information from those four cases had been filed in an FBI database.

Fountain has since been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.