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Man charged after seizure of firearms
Justin Wenger
Justin Wenger

MONROE — A man already indicted in federal court for illegal possession of ammunition now faces local felony charges related to the seizure of nearly five dozen firearms from his Monticello home in January.

Justin Wayne Wenger, 37, was charged March 30 in Green County Circuit Court with 10 Class G felony counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. A warrant is issued for his arrest. 

Wenger is currently in federal custody at the Dane County Jail. He is awaiting trial in federal court after an indictment March 4 alleged he illegally possessed .223 caliber Fiocchi ammunition.

The local charges stem from a Jan. 22 search of Wenger’s home on Coates Avenue.

Police got a warrant for the search after seeing a person who appeared to be Wenger on surveillance video shoplifting ammo and batteries from the Monroe Farm & Fleet store, according to police reports included in the criminal complaint.

Wenger, who was on probation and under “max level supervision” at the time, faces separate misdemeanor charges for the retail theft.

Monticello police called in backup for the search because “Justin has a history of fleeing,” an officer noted.

Wenger wasn’t home at the time, but police interviewed several family members. His father, Wayne R. Wenger, 66, who lives at the home, and his half-brother, Brian A. Schoenhard, 41, who lives elsewhere in Monticello, are facing related misdemeanor charges of encouraging a violation of probation.

In total, 56 firearms were removed from the residence. There were so many guns throughout the house that local police called in an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for assistance.

In December, according to the investigation, Wenger purchased a $1,000 semi-automatic rifle “through an ex-Marine” as a Christmas gift for his teenage son, who had requested that “a Japanese symbol for death and the Chinese symbol for strength” be etched onto the gun. Wenger has “been in and out of prison many times over the last 15 years” and is not a hunter, the criminal complaint notes. He was entered into a drug court program in 2019 for a methamphetamine habit that was costing him $100 daily.