Former Staten Island attorney Richard Luthmann says the State of New York never had legal jurisdiction to convict him—because he was never arrested or fingerprinted for the charge.
By Frank Parlato
Missing Fingerprint Card Raises Jurisdiction Issue
In 2020, while serving time in federal prison, Richard Luthmann accepted a plea deal in a New York criminal case. As part of the deal, prosecutors added an extra charge using a Supplemental Criminal Information, or SCI—a legal shortcut to file additional charges without a grand jury indictment.
But Luthmann says the entire process was fatally flawed.
“Where is the NYPD fingerprint card for my 2020 SCI?” he demands.
He says it doesn’t exist—because he was never arrested or fingerprinted for the charge. And under New York law, that means the court never had jurisdiction.
In New York, fingerprinting isn’t just bureaucratic. It’s a legal requirement: No prints, no arraignment. No arraignment, no jurisdiction. Without it, Luthmann says the court had no right to accept his plea—making the conviction void.
Luthmann was in Allenwood Federal Correctional Institution in White Deer, Pennsylvania, at the time.
No arrest. No booking. No prints. Therefore, no case, he argues.
Richard Luthmann
New York law requires those steps—arrest, booking, fingerprinting—for a court to have legal authority over a defendant. Since none occurred, Luthmann says the SCI charge was invalid from day one.
Luthmann says the error cannot be fixed at this point. Officials “have two choices. One is to go back and book me… but you cannot… [because] you’re past your five year statute of limitations,” he said, noting that the window to re-file or re-arrest him on the 2020 charge has closed.
In his view, that means “the case is over” and the entire 2020 supplemental charge must be thrown out. He further argues that because the SCI was part of his plea agreement, its invalidity would nullify the entire deal.
He says the plea wasn’t valid because it was based on a charge the court had no authority to process.
Docket Disappears After Motion Filed
Luthmann’s legal challenge took a bizarre turn when he tried to argue the fingerprint issue in court.
Observers and journalists also tried to access the virtual hearing—but no one got in.
What happened next was even stranger.
Later that day, the case docket was updated to “decision reserved,” indicating the judge intended to rule without a hearing.
He says the judge ruled without ever hearing his side.
The next day, Luthmann discovered the public record of his case had seemingly been wiped clean overnight, without explanation. But the felonies are still on his record.
“The docket disappeared… The case doesn’t exist,” he said, describing how every motion and charge on the SCI had vanished. “They just got rid of the docket to make it like it’s nothing,” Luthmann alleged. “I’m innocent here, but Staten Island DA Mike McMahon cannot allow that for political reasons.
He views the disappearing docket as a deliberate cover-up of his jurisdictional challenge.
sttat DA Michael McMahon with his wife, Judge Judith McMahon.
“It just disappeared… I think they’re trying to cover their tracks,” he said of court officials’ actions.
Luthmann notes that the maneuver left no paper trail of his motion in the state system, calling it “the most highly irregular” court event he has witnessed.
He asserts that this reflects intentional manipulation by those in power. In his view, the erasure of the case is an example of “weaponized justice” being used against him.
Luthmann Seeks Federal RICO Probe
He believes the fingerprint issue was part of a setup, triggered by what he calls a bogus complaint DA McMahon filed with the NYPD on July 13.
McMahon said he received an email from Luthmann’s Substack publication and was afraid of “death or serious bodily injury.”
Following the filing of the complaint, NYPD Detective John Wilkinson from the 120 Precinct Warrant Squad took over the case.
Detective John Wilkinson claims to carry the Richmond County judges in his pocket like so many nickels and dimes.
In a statement made to Luthmann’s attorney, Wilkinson remarked, “With the victim who it is, (McMahon) I get whatever I want.”
Wilkinson allegedly made the comment during a recorded call with Luthmann’s lawyer—a call now under Internal Affairs review.
Instead of getting a court-authorized warrant, Wilkinson used an NYPD ‘ICARD’—a citywide alert that can’t be used to arrest someone outside New York and doesn’t require a judge’s approval. But Wilkinson boasted he can get any judge he wants to sign the order to extradite Luthmann.
Why? Because the McMahons control the island.
Luthmann believes the alleged fingerprint card scheme was aborted once McMahon knew Luthmann had Detective Wilkinson on tape.
“They tried to get me to come in so that they could pull an old cop trick. They wanted me to show up so they could retroactively create a fake fingerprint card and stick it in the 2020 file,” Luthmann said.
The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau has docket the case and is actively investigating.
Luthmann is taking his case to federal prosecutors. He says the pattern of misconduct may qualify as racketeering under RICO. He’s also contacting justice reform groups in Washington, including those aligned with Trump.
Luthmann hopes that by spotlighting what he calls ‘weaponized justice and lawfare,’ he can attract national attention and spark a broader investigation into judicial misconduct in Staten Island.
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