Luke Prescott

COOK— A St. Louis County judge recently sentenced two men— both with lengthy criminal histories— following their convictions for a March 2020 burglary in rural Cook.
One was sentenced to 44 months in prison. The other may not serve a day in prison, depending on the successful completion of five years of supervised probation.
In granting probation, and no prison time, for Luke Lee Dustin Prescott, District Court Judge Rachel C. Sullivan exercised her legal authority to implement what is called a “downward departure” from sentencing guidelines based on the offense and Prescott’s criminal history. The judge did impose a 71-month prison sentence on Prescott, but stayed that penalty in favor of probation.
The St. Louis County Attorney’s office opposed the decision, arguing for imposition of the sentence recommended in the guidelines.
The official sentencing document for Prescott has been “held off the record” according to information on Minnesota Court Records Online. However, an examination of electronic case documents by the Timberjay for both men that are publicly available suggests that the widely divergent sentences for this singular burglary reflect very different circumstances for each offender.
All information in this report was taken from official court documents, unless otherwise noted.
Burglary
Two juveniles, ages 16 and 11, were home alone at their residence about four miles north of Cook at about 7:30 a.m. on March 26, 2020, when a barking dog caused one of them to look out a window. The juvenile observed two unfamiliar men, later determined to be Clifton Lea Garcia and Prescott, who were driving a gray pickup truck with a topper and pulling a snowmobile trailer. The men went into the entryway of the home and took eight outdoor clothing items valued at $2,150. Then the men cut down a maple tree in the front yard that had an old Navy ship’s bell that had grown into the wood, loaded it, and left. The juvenile took a picture of the truck before it left, then called his father, who reported the burglary to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Dispatcher.
A deputy forwarded the photo to members of Orr’s neighborhood watch group, and two people identified the truck in the photo as being driven by Prescott.
By mid-morning, officers arrived at a Nett Lake Rd. residence where Prescott was known to stay. They found the truck and trailer, encountered and detained Garcia and Prescott, and executed a search warrant, discovering the stolen items.
Clifton Garcia
Prior to the March 2020 burglary, Garcia had been convicted of four felonies, three involving possession of marijuana, and possession of a weapon by an ineligible person. He also had a misdemeanor conviction for giving officers false identification information.
Garcia was cited for a gross misdemeanor of operating a vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance and sentenced to probation in September 2020, with the provision that he continue in a treatment program he was attending.
Garcia was later booked into the Stillwater state correctional facility in June 2021 on a weapons possession charge. Just a month prior to his conviction in the Cook burglary case, Garcia was sentenced to 60 months in prison on the weapons charge, and 97 months on a second-degree felony methamphetamines charge.
Given his incarceration and the length of the sentences, probation would not have been an option in addressing his conviction for the Cook burglary, hence the imposition of the recommended sentence of 44 months.
Luke Prescott
Prescott committed his first burglaries as a juvenile, and prior to the March 2020 Cook burglary Prescott had been convicted of two felonies and one misdemeanor for theft, three felony charges for receiving stolen property, and one felony count of possession of a weapon by an ineligible person. Between September 2020 and July 2021, Prescott had felony convictions for two burglary and two theft charges.
But Prescott’s path after his arrest for the Cook burglary was markedly different from that of Garcia. He received supervised probation for the September 2020 conviction and was ordered to undergo chemical dependency evaluation and treatment.
On Oct. 16, 2020, Prescott, a self-admitted methamphetamine abuser for more than two decades, became a client of Christian-based Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge (MATC) in Duluth, and his life hasn’t been the same since.
Prescott started in a state-licensed 90-day residential chemical dependency program at MATC, one just like similar programs operated by other agencies, according to Admissions Case Coordinator Kristin Birman.
“All of our clients start out in that program. It’s kind of their base, their grounding,” Birman said.
Faith activities are not part of the 90-day program, and participation can be court-ordered or voluntary. Prescott appears to have chosen MATC’s program after being urged to do so by family members.
However, in addition to standard individual counseling and group participation, clients can choose to incorporate elements of faith if they so desire, Birman said.
Following that, enrollment in other MATC options is voluntary, and all are based solidly on Christian principles and teachings, Birman said.
Prescott moved on into MATC’s 13-month residential program, earning three months credit for his initial participation. This program is not licensed by the state.
“Because it is faith-based, clients are required to go to church once a week,” Birman said. “They are required to sing in the choir. Their classes revolve around learning about Jesus and the Bible and how we’re going to walk out our life now sober. Without that drug or alcohol, what are we going to do to fill that void? They’re taught how to lean on Jesus and prayer.”
“We” is a word that comes naturally to Birman because she’s a successful former MATC client herself. The long-term treatment program has four levels, and Birman had a unique description of it.
“I had a teacher who referred to it as surgery,” she said. “The first basic level is preparing you for surgery, just opening up the Bible. A lot of these clients that come to this program are not familiar with the Bible. Level two is going into open heart surgery, where you’re tearing it open, and you are digging deep down into your addiction and what caused it. Level three is closing up that surgery, learning to walk with Jesus by our side now that you’ve dealt with all this stuff. Level four is getting ready for the outside world so that they can find and get jobs, and they’re looking for housing, they’re looking for churches, they’re getting their feet on the ground to get ready to be thrown to the wolves, as they say.”
Clients also participate in community service activities and have the option to have a job during their final two months in the program.
One bit of evidence attesting to a positive change in Prescott is to be found in a pre-sentence investigation filed in July 2021. Earlier that year, Prescott was interviewed by Itasca County law enforcement officials and confessed to a string of burglaries and thefts in the county committed in late 2019 and early 2020. The report quoted a statement written by Prescott that said, “I was on drugs and lost my way from the Lord. When I came into Teen Challenge, God told me to tell everything I’ve ever done, so I came clean about all of my indiscretions because it was holding me down and I needed a clean slate. Also, I want to make amends to the people I hurt and violated. I’m making an attempt to do this.” In a plea bargain acknowledging Prescott’s acceptance of responsibility for the crimes, all but one of the charges was dismissed, and Prescott received probation for the final charge, with a condition that he complete the MATC program.
Prescott went beyond that directive. In September 2021, he was accepted into MATC’s Challenge Leadership Institute. The focus of the 12-month institute is twofold, Birman said. It helps participants to strengthen their walk with Christ, and it prepares them to minister to others. Applicants are evaluated on their performance in prior MATC experiences, evidence of their commitment to a Christ-centered lifestyle, and potential for effectively ministering to others. Acceptance is selective, rather than automatic, Birman said.
“Leadership Institute is more of a college type experience,” she said. “It’s dorm-style living, you go to classes during the day, ministry classes. If you finish, you can take some extra classes to become an ordained minister.”
Prescott’s request for probation in the Cook burglary case was supported by glowing letters from MATC staff, family members, his pastor, and a former employer, all attesting to the changes they have observed in him during his engagement with MATC. Prescott’s attorney, James Perunovich, wrote about Prescott’s suitability for probation in his petition.
“Although there are no assurances to this court that anyone will be successful on probation, especially someone who has a history of criminal behavior, there are those persons that appear before the court from time to time that have had an epiphany in their life that provides them with a perspective of life without addiction,” Perunovich said. “Mr. Prescott certainly appears to be that person as supported by his counselors, his pastor, probation and the court in Itasca County, and most importantly, his own family. The facts and the law merit a dispositional departure for Mr. Prescott.”
The letters and accompanying petition appear to have been a major deciding factor in Prescott receiving probation, and yet many will remain skeptical of the court’s decision. There are those who will point to Prescott’s long documented history of criminal offenses and habitual drug use in support of their belief and label his claimed conversion as a ploy to escape the punishment for his crimes they believe he deserves.
That’s something Birman acknowledged as reality, something MATC prepares their clients to deal with as best they can.
“We let them know that it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says, the real judgment comes from Jesus, and he doesn’t judge any of that. He loves us the way we are,” Birman said.

Editor’s note: The Timberjay has no direct knowledge of Mr. Prescott beyond what is recorded in publicly available court records reviewed for this article. Due to confidentiality issues, Kristin Birman was asked to speak only to the nature of MATC’s programs, and not to discuss Mr. Prescott’s participation in them. The article is intended to illustrate an example of how sentencing in the judicial system can be influenced by factors outside the courtroom and state sentencing guidelines, and the Timberjay has no position regarding the determination made in Mr. Prescott’s case.