Branden Michael Wolfe -heard you were sentenced to 42 months & ordered to pay $12M in restitution

Pursuant to his sentencing and final judgment Defendant Wolfe was ordered to be taken into the Custody of US Marshals today at 10AM

Enjoy Prison Branden

You set fire to a police station that still had employees in it. You and your coconspirators aka arsonist sadly created a scenario for the neighborhood, who was served by the third precinct to be without a police station even as crime was on the increase. And your lack of remorse doesn’t bode well in your “acceptance of responsibility”…now you have 42 months to contemplate your poor life choices

June 2020 Archived Twitter Thread

Nearly a year to the date (for accuracy sake it is more like 11 months) - Branden Michael Wolfe June 2020 Archived Twitter Thread - charged with Arson in the Minneapolis 3rd Precinct Fire ¹

Relevant Court Documents

Admittedly I had actually forgotten about that June 2020 Thread. During my time on Twitter I consistently pumped out a lot of facts, court filings, various reports and other Congressional documents. That occasionally I inadvertently fail to circle back and close the proverbially information loop.

April 15, 2021 the Government filed - SENTENCING MEMORANDUM by USA as to Branden Michael Wolfe. The Government filing via ECF https://ecf.mnd.uscourts.gov/doc1/10108780185 -the Government took the position that defendant Wolfe should be sentenced to forty-two months imprisonmentm

Setting aside the fact that after Defendant Wolfe pushed a barrel into the third precinct, with the intent to accelerate the fire. Prosecutors also disclosed that at some point Wolfe;

USAO -April 15, 2021 Sentencing Memorandum

“…entered the Third Precinct building and stole several items, including a police vest, duty belt, handcuffs, earpiece, baton, knife, riot helmet, pistol magazine, police radio, police overdose kit, uniform name plates, and ammunition…”

Wait so you’re telling me that the assertion I made in August and September 2020 that Defendant Wolfe would likely work towards a plea agreement - turns out “yes he sure did” - imagine that - making a prediction based on the facts in the docket and more broadly in the public domain. To be fair the executed plea agreement didn’t occur until December 2020 (about 2 months later than I had previously predicted)

In the plea agreement, the parties agreed that the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act² applies and that the total amount of restitution for the loss suffered by the Minneapolis Police Department was $12,000,000…costs include rebuilding or repairing the Third Precinct building, as well as additional costs for equipment, clean up, and overtime pay for city employees in the aftermath of the arson.

I’ve highlighted the relevant section and subsections of 18 U.S.C. §3663A (and uploaded the highlighted and annotated document, found here)

And I’m not trying to be sympathetic to Defendant Wolfe but it is clear in the Government’s filing that Wolfe struggles with mental health issues -to that end in March of 2019 Defendant Wolfe had suicidal ideations -along with other untreated mental health conditions.

But on page 11 the Government goes there, rightfully so:

Wolfe’s statement regarding acceptance of responsibility was perfunctory. In his statement of acceptance, he expresses no remorse for his actions. He largely blames his mental illness for the choice he made to join a violent protest and assist in burning down a police station.

Wolfe correctly notes that he met with the Government soon after he was charged and provided what appeared to be a truthful proffer. He entered a guilty plea early and admitted his culpability without engaging in protracted litigation.

The next day, April 16, 2021 the Defendant filed his SENTENCING MEMORANDUM via ECF https://ecf.mnd.uscourts.gov/doc1/10108782096 (or via my public drive) suffice to say I stopped reading his filing once I got to page two. See the highlights

DOJ-OPA Press Release Defendant Wolfe - as noted the Defendant was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the arsons at the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building…

Sentence and Final Judgement

via ECF https://ecf.mnd.uscourts.gov/doc1/10108804810 or via my public drive

Sentencing Judgment;

Via ECF - https://ecf.mnd.uscourts.gov/doc1/10108804983 or via my public drive and while I do not disagree that the restitution is reasonable (and mandatory) I just can’t see Wolfe having the ability to pay the $12M because he only has an eighth grade education, which was largely home schooling. He doesn’t have a high school education much less a college education- couples with his mental health challenges it seems like an insurmountable amount. But I suppose “it is what it is”

And with that I can now close the Branden Wolfe file.

1. June 2020 Twitter Thread Archive - where I drilled down on the complaint and affidavit and then did a decent deep dive into the defendant- found here

2. 18 U.S.C §3663A. Mandatory restitution to victims of certain crimes colloquially known as the “Mandatory Victims Restitution Act” - restitution for certain losses suffered as a direct result of the commission of the crime for which the defendant was convicted. -via Government Printing Office - last visited May 5, 2021 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title18/pdf/USCODE-2010-title18-partII-chap232-sec3663A.pdf