In this letter, sent from the Federal Transfer Center (FTC) in Oklahoma City and filed in court on September 10, 2024, Luke Wenke seems to think he knows the law better than the court and other parties involved in his case. He also tells his probation officer to “STFU” and says that he will never allow the PO in his house again unless he replaces Wenke’s ailing furnace.
(If you’d like to read a typed version of the letter, scroll past the PDF viewer.)
Additionally, Wenke denies needing psychiatric medication and reiterates his right to refuse treatment, making it clear that he intends to be fully uncooperative with any compulsory care plans that are put in place. One thing Luke Wenke and I do agree on is that he is competent. I think he has profound mental issues, but that he’s coherent, understands his case, and acts deliberately and with malicious intent. While Wenke has his own reasons for believing he’s competent, I think it would be a gross disservice to his victims to excuse his abhorrent behaviour based on mental illness. He knows the difference between right and wrong, and he knowingly commits wrong.
Moreover, what good is forcing mental treatment on someone who is convinced they don’t need it? I’m no expert, but it seems like people of this mindset only experience progress in a highly controlled setting, and that they typically stop taking their medications as soon as they’re trusted to take them unsupervised. In other words, I think mental treatment is useless for Wenke unless the parties involved in his case plan to oversee his medication intake and therapy compliance literally for the rest of his life.
Why Bother?
Just my opinion, but with how dead-set against treatment Wenke is, I say let him go without. There are people who would value those resources. Why squander them on someone who is determined to gain zero therapeutic benefit from them? I think it seems reckless to force treatment on someone with the hope that they’ll have an “aha” moment and suddenly become compliant. At best, I think he’d “fake it ’til he makes it,” i.e. do what’s necessary to get through the programme and regain his freedom.
I firmly believe that it’s only a matter of time before the “switch flips,” and that mental treatment will simply delay the inevitable. And to be frank, I’ve been playing this waiting game for years now. My life is in limbo while the Wenke saga drags on endlessly. There’s no ideal solution in this case but given the past failures of America’s healthcare system to identify and effectively treat mental illness, I don’t trust that a medical approach will keep society safe.
USA v. Luke Wenke – 1:22-cr-00035
Letter #150 – Filed September 10th, 2024
Page 1
“Why am I at this U.S. Marshals transit facility in Oklahoma since 8/26? It’s 8/30 as I send this out. It does not help that Frank’s vacation continues while I am thrown around like this, let alone his vacation starting the day before I went to CCA in Ohio.
What the hell does this court have left to do to me? Every piece of paper allegedly produced all year is supposed to be done before a guilty conviction is accepted. I have not physically seen one piece of paper produced all year. Then what a waste 2024 has been. ‘Waiving’ was an option back in January. I have had the last straw with these arrogant suggestions that a 2.5 year old email dispute between myself and a stranger means I need medication. No I don’t. I have a legal right to refuse that garbage for a reason. Again, I am at a U.S. Marshals transit facility, not one of the B.O.P. facilities this court has absolutely no authority whatsoever to place an unsentenced defendant into you people have ignorantly been suggesting be done with me since April. Staff members at CCA confirmed with me nobody goes into B.O.P. custody without a sentence. Once a sentence is issued, fuck the court’s arbitrary paperwork concerns. The B.O.P. doesn’t even listen to lawyers’ suggestions concerning which First Step Act classes the lawyer thinks their client should take. I guess I’m not the only one these days dealing with an ignorant court. You cannot be more than 500 miles from home at any B.O.P. facility. This is such a commonly known fact with these people. Nope since April this court has been acting above the law, on top of wasting your own time producing illegitimate paperwork you are supposed to produce before a guilty conviction is accepted.
Public defenders are coworkers with prosecutors, not opponents. I am not falling for anymore shit. This U.S. Marshals move over to Oklahoma offended…”
Page 2
“…enough people in my world where now we really have enough help available to change counsel if this shady behavior and the rude treatment I’ve dealt with all year continues. I am past the legitimate 9 month maximum sentencing guideline and it just makes Frank and Fonda and even the prosecutor who yelled at me to my face in December like nobody else ever did look bad professionally speaking. Oh all the sudden during this violation I’m ‘incompetent’, then I guess the guilty plea from Oct. 2023 isn’t valid. I guess I’m not competent enough to remember signing anything in court. Are Frank and Fonda out there bragging at the lawyer yacht parties about how they have a defendant 2 months past the normal sentencing guidelines maximum over a letter allegedly sent out of jail I haven’t been at in 8+ months? Is this prosecutor out there trying to help other prosecutors get defendants illegally placed into B.O.P. facilities unsentenced and more than 500 miles from their home at that?
Federal probation was created in 1927 as a more liberating option to incarceration. Now it’s just abused as a way for courts to jam people back into jail before Christmas so courts can cover up their own errors finishing paperwork they are legally required to complete before a guilty conviction is accepted. Matt Zenger has been face to face with me in my own home twice. He is a false witness if he’s going to park his ass in court on July 30th and claim ‘probation has concerns’. STFU. I am competent enough to remember hearing that you don’t have to let probation into your house. If he wants to go back into my house then he can replace my furnace for starts. I’ll tell him what to do in my own home, not vice versa.
This irregular relocation over to a U.S. Marshals transit facility in Oklahoma means it is time to stop bitching about Orleans County Jail, Sanford Church, and/or Katie. It’s time to start bitching about this court in writing. How many times do I have to mention Counterman v. Colorado 600 U.S. 66? Listen to my phone calls at this place and you will hear who out in California I learned about before I got on the overrated Fed Jet. ‘Ooh look at the clouds’ say all the rap music enthusiasts facing life. I’ve been on a plane first class as a normal person before. Free envelopes and paper all over the place here. Should I complain to Vilardo and Arcara next? Will I be relocated to a U.S. Marshals transit facility in Guam before Fonda takes a 2 week vacation next? FTS, -Luke Wenke (waiving goodbye for now)”