The Luke Wenke Files

In August of 2023, Luke Wenke was found guilty of violating his federal supervised release by indirectly contacting his cyberstalking victim (the Minnesota attorney, referred to in court documents as “Victim 1”). He was sentenced to time served and 34 months of continued probation.

At Luke Wenke’s instruction, his public defender filed an appeal. (This would be the first of two appeals that Wenke would ultimately pursue.)

During a phone conversation in October of 2023, Wenke’s public defender at the time, Jay Osviovitch, advised Wenke that he was planning to file what’s known as an Anders brief. Based on my admittedly limited understanding, a public defender files an Anders brief when they find the defendant’s appeal argument to be without merit or based on frivolous grounds.vAccording to the following motion, Osviovitch explained why he planned to file an Anders brief and what it would mean for Luke Wenke’s appeal.

Luke Wenke signed a motion to withdraw his appeal after his public defender warned of his plan to file an Anders brief.

After speaking with his public defender and considering his options, Wenke signed an affirmation stating that he wished to withdraw his appeal. At the time, he was in custody on federal remand at the Cattaraugus County Jail for similar alleged violations.
Wenke later denied ever consenting to withdraw his appeal in a letter to the court, claiming that someone must’ve forged his handwriting. I’m sharing the motion so people can decide for themselves whether or not they believe this allegation.

USA v. Luke Wenke – Motion to Withdraw Appeal
November 1^st, 2023

CASE #23-6964, DOC. #10