The federal government appears to have strong evidence implicating John Wolf, a Manhattan dentist, in possessing child pornography and crystal meth, according to documents recently filed in the case.
Wolf was recorded in meetings by a confidential informant and an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation at least 11 times. He also made videotaped statement after he was arrested on November 20, according to a January 5 letter from the Office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York that detailed evidence that was turned over to the defense. The government also has text messages between Wolf and the confidential informant, and one of those occurred in 2014. The contents of the recordings and messages were not disclosed in the January 5 letter.
The government seized smart phones, computers, tablets, and storage devices when his Manhattan home and dental office were searched on November 20, according to the indictment in the case. The defense also received from prosecutors “subpoena returns from Gmail, Manhattan Mini Storage, and Time Warner Cable,” the January 5 letter said.
Recordings with informant, FBI uncercover, texts, 23 videos part of possession, distribution case against John Wolf
Wolf, who is gay, is charged with two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, one count of possessing child pornography, and one count of distributing child pornography. He could face as much as 14 to 17-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.
The descriptions in court records of just three child pornography videos out of the at least 23 videos Wolf allegedly possessed are horrific. He denied ever having sex with any child after his arrest, and nothing in court records indicates he expressed an interest in having sex with children. In court records, he allegedly called the videos “some twisted shit” and “jerk off material.”
At his arrest, the government leaked inflammatory allegations to the media charging that Wolf, who is HIV-positive, had engaged in sex with animals, drugged a man and then had condomless sex with him, and punctured holes in condoms that he then used during sex. Wolf, 59, is not facing any charges related to these stories that appear to have been used mostly to generate press coverage.
The evidence in the case is appearing early. Following a November 24 bail hearing, Marc Agnifilo, an attorney at Brafman & Associates who is representing Wolf, told reporters that he sought a preliminary hearing in this case. That would prompt the government to more quickly indict Wolf to block the hearing and avoid having some of its witnesses testify. That also meant that discovery in the case moved faster and Agnifilo could see the evidence against his client and perhaps counter some of the government’s more inflammatory allegations.
“From my perspective, it’s noise that I have to get rid of,” Agnifilo said in November.
He did not respond to calls seeking comment this week and the US Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
The confidential informant is a meth dealer who was arrested at JFK Airport in March of 2015 carrying 1,844 grams of methamphetamine. From July 2014 through October 2014, the dealer was purchasing crystal in Los Angeles and reselling it to “approximately ten customers in the New York and Philadelphia areas, including Wolf, for their personal use and further distribution,” according to the criminal complaint that was filed in the case. The dealer began cooperating with the government and recorded Wolf in October and November 2015. It is unknown if the dealer recorded other customers for the government.
In the January 5 letter, the government told Agnifilo that it would have an expert in computer forensics testify on “the location of the child pornography on the electronic devices and storage media seized from the premises occupied by the defendant” and a second expert would testify “that the children depicted in the child pornography are real minors.”
The January 5 letter indicates that Agnifilo and the US Attorney’s Office have already engaged in plea discussions. The letter notes that “no plea offer is effective unless and until made in writing and signed by authorized representatives of the Office.”
The US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which is headquartered in Brooklyn, is also prosecuting the rentboy.com case. That escort website was shuttered last August, and its owner and six employees were arrested for violating the federal Travel Act, a 1961 statute that makes crimes that are typically, though not always, prosecuted by state prosecutors, such as prostitution or gambling, a federal crime when they are committed across state or foreign borders or done by using the mail, telephone, or the Internet. That case prompted protests in four cities and condemnation from some LGBT groups. The seven defendants in that case have yet to be indicted and appear to be engaged in extended plea negotiations with the government.
