Bail Denied in Porn Case Tied to Deputy's Killing
By Sarah Prohaska, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Originally published by The Palm Beach Post, August 26, 2004
FORT PIERCE — While Kenneth Wilk awaits formal charges in connection with the slaying of a detective in Broward County, a federal magistrate denied his request Wednesday for bail in the St. Lucie County child pornography case that brought the detective to Wilk's doorstep.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch Jr. did not hear evidence about the shooting death of Todd Fatta, but he still deemed Wilk, 42, a flight risk and a danger to the community after listening to details of the child pornography and obstruction of justice investigation.
"We don't live in a vacuum," Lynch said of the potential murder charges against Wilk. "But I'm not taking into consideration anything that has not been proffered in this courtroom today."
Wilk is accused of gunning down Fatta, 33, a detective with the Broward sheriff's office, Aug. 19 as officers from a multi-agency task force served a search warrant in the child pornography case at the Fort Lauderdale house Wilk shared with registered sex offender Kelly Ray Jones.
Jones was arrested July 15 on a state charge of transmission of child pornography, after he sent pornographic images online to undercover St. Lucie County Sheriff's Detective Neil Spector, investigators say.
Wilk is accused of attempting to intimidate a witness who was set to testify against Jones in that case, and also of conspiracy to possess child pornography.
Wilk probably will remain at the federal detention center in Miami, his attorney, J. Rafael Rodriguez, said after Wednesday's bond hearing. Prosecutors are still working to determine whether to charge Wilk in federal or state court in connection with Fatta's death.
Investigators sought the search warrant after monitoring several recorded telephone conversations between Wilk and Jones, who placed all the calls from the St. Lucie County jail, where he has been since his July arrest.
During the calls, the pair talked about destroying and hiding evidence, along with attempting to persuade another Broward County man to stop talking to detectives, according to a criminal complaint affidavit by Christopher Harvey, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"Going through the e-mails is vital. Get rid of them," Jones told Wilk during one call.
"Ok, I'll do it," Wilk responded.
On July 16, Wilk went to the house of the witness Chuck Carothers and left a message warning Carothers not to meet with "Robert," who Wilk believed was an undercover law enforcement officer, according to Harvey's affidavit. That same day, he went to Carothers' house and warned him he also could end up in jail if he cooperated.
During a recorded phone call, Wilk described the encounter as "like the Sopranos" television show and Wilk said he believed Carothers was very afraid, according to affidavit.
During another brief court hearing in Miami Friday, Wilk told a federal judge he suffers from AIDS and AIDS dementia.
He is scheduled to be in court again Sept. 3 in Fort Pierce, when he will be arraigned on the charges stemming from the child pornography investigation. But this case could be moved to federal court in Broward County, depending on how prosecutors decide to pursue the shooting charges, officials said.
