A former Burlington, Iowa man wants to withdraw his guilty plea in the beating case of late Mercer County farmer Fred Rooth. 59 year old Brian Tully was sentenced to 30 years in prison in December of 2017 after entering a guilty plea to a Class X felony of home invasion. He was accused of striking the 83-year old Rooth over the head with a metal desk lamp at Rooth’s rural Joy farmhouse in May of 2017. Rooth would never return home after the attack and eventually died at Genesis Senior Living in Aledo in July of 2018. In Tully’s handwritten motion, he takes issue with former Public Defender Dan Dalton’s handling of his case. Dalton is now a judge. Arguments were heard in the motion Monday morning in Mercer County Circuit Court with Tully participating via Zoom video conference. Judge Frank Fuhr has taken the matter under advisement. Tully remains in custody at the Lawrence Correctional Center.