Biography
Dennis M. Wolfel was an Ohio prisoner and prison-rights organizer identified at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Lucasville. His underlying rape and kidnapping convictions were ordinary criminal convictions, not established here as political offenses. Ohio’s appellate court dates their conviction and sentencing entry July 1, 1976: consecutive five-to-twenty-five and seven-to-twenty-five-year terms. His political/prison-rights connection arose inside prison: Wolfel v. Bates records a successful First Amendment challenge to punishment for a grievance petition. The nominal award in that case was one dollar, not the separate $25,000 claim reported in the magazine. Exact admission, later release and total time served remain unverified.
On September 11, 2008 the Ohio Tenth District affirmed rejection of Wolfel’s February 25 motion challenging his consecutive 1976 sentences. It found his August 2004 postconviction petition untimely, no qualifying retroactive right under Blakely or Foster, and, alternatively, no Sixth Amendment violation under the sentencing statute applicable in 1976. The court noted that an unsigned draft was not a ruling on the earlier petition. The appeal challenged sentencing procedure rather than the underlying rape and kidnapping convictions. This unsuccessful collateral proceeding does not establish a new physical arrest, release or completed fifty-year custody total. Source: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/10/2008/2008-Ohio-4596.pdf#page=1
Dennis M. Wolfel was an Ohio prisoner and prison-rights organizer identified at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Lucasville. His underlying rape and kidnapping convictions were ordinary criminal convictions, not established here as political offenses. Ohio’s appellate court dates their conviction and sentencing entry July 1, 1976: consecutive five-to-twenty-five and seven-to-twenty-five-year terms. His political/prison-rights connection arose inside prison: Wolfel v. Bates records a successful First Amendment challenge to punishment for a grievance petition. The nominal award in that case was one dollar, not the separate $25,000 claim reported in the magazine. Exact admission, later release and total time served remain unverified.