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Lewis agrees to plea deal

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/f...orts-headlines

Quote:

Jamal Lewis has reached a plea-bargain agreement in his drug conspiracy case under which the star Ravens running back will receive four to six months in prison - a term he almost certainly will not begin serving until after the football season is over, according to people familiar with the agreement.

The deal, reached with federal prosecutors earlier this week but not yet publicly announced, means that Lewis, last year's NFL Offensive Player of the Year, will not have to submit to a scheduled November trial in which he would have faced a career-ending sentence of at least 10 years if convicted on the principal charge.

Lewis' attorneys had long maintained that he was innocent of charges that he brokered a cocaine deal in 2000 for a friend in Atlanta. But they acknowledged that there was risk in going before a jury.

The NFL has been informed of the agreement.

U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans is expected to hold a public hearing on the deal late next week. Her approval is needed before the sentence can be finalized. But people familiar with the negotiations said they had little concern that she would reject the pact. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they suggested she knew about it in advance.

The agreement was reached after several weeks of talks. As the discussions moved forward, Lewis continued to play football. He started slowly but had his best game of the season last Sunday, rushing for 186 yards in a 23-9 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Last year, he rushed for 2,066 yards, second-best in NFL history

While Lewis now knows his verdict from the legal system, the National Football League punishment is uncertain.

League officials declined to comment, but Lewis could face significant punishment - potentially a suspension of more than a year and/or an extensive fine - based on the league's substance-abuse policy.

Lewis, 25, has had at least two violations of the substance-abuse policy in his five-year NFL career. He was suspended without pay for four games in 2001, when he missed the season with a torn knee ligament.

Lewis said yesterday that he knew "nothing" of the plea-bargain negotiations.

His sentence is expected to be on the low end of four to six months and could include time in a halfway house, a source said.

Sentencing won't be formally done until after Angelo Jackson, a co-defendant in the case, has completed his trial. It is scheduled to begin Nov. 1. After that, there is an average six-week lag time for the Bureau of Prisons to process paperwork and make a prison assignment.

Because the plea agreement was not yet public last night, it was uncertain precisely which charge or charges Lewis would plead guilty to.

Don Samuel and Ed Garland, attorneys for Lewis, declined to comment. Patrick Crosby, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based U.S. attorney's office, also said he could not comment.

The charges against Lewis date to June 2000 - before he began his NFL career - and stem from a drug investigation in an Atlanta housing project.

In the original February indictment, Lewis was charged with conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms of cocaine and using a cell phone in the commission of a drug crime.

Lewis was re-indicted in August. The indictment alleged Lewis introduced Jackson and two other men to a woman who turned out to be a confidential informant so that the three, but not Lewis, could buy cocaine from her.

According to the indictment, Lewis provided one of the men, Keaton Lamar Johnson, with the woman's phone number, and that Johnson met with her a week later and tried to buy cocaine. The indictment alleges that Lewis encouraged the other man, Neyaunte Stallings, to buy cocaine from the woman.

Had the case gone to trial, the defense was expected to attack the credibility of the informant, who has an extensive criminal record.

In February, Lewis turned himself in to FBI officials and was released on $500,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty and said he wanted fans to know that he was innocent.

I have to think he is guilty now. I love him as a player, but now I'm torn as to whether the Ravens should even keep him, especially with how well Chester Taylor has played as the backup.

For the life of my fantasy team, I have to hope that whatever happens, guilty or not, does not affect the season.
The only thing I'm wondering is this: they're saying he may have to serve a couple months, but it will be during the offseason. Sure I want his fantasy numbers, but on the realistic side, it's not fair that it seems athletes sometimes seem to be able to serve their sentences or do their community service or whatever when it's convenient for them (like in their offseason.) Regular people don't get that break.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrongfullyaccuzd

i agree with you. it does seem like the athletes do get better treatment when it comes to the law. But, the state may not have had a solid case and they really wanted to convict him. By giving him jail time after the season, might have been the nail in the coffin to close the deal on his guiltyness and avoid trial. (pardon me if guiltyness is not a word, but i like the sound of it :p )

taking a plea bargain doesn't always denote being guilty. I mean if a person is faced with that much time knowing how people get screwed over in the system everyday.. sometimes people take pleas to be "on the safe side"

The burden of proof in a criminal trial is on the prosecution. Therefore, if a man/woman agrees to a plea, he or she is either guilty or a complete fool.

It maddens me to see the NFL being so lenient to drug offenders. Today on ESPN they said that a guilty plea is automatic grounds for suspension/fines from the NFL. However, they made a conjecture that he would only be suspended for a few games. It took the threat of a 4th cocaine possession charge to get Ricky Williams. These people are role models for our children, and I think stiffer punishments should be handed over by the NFL.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tspikes51

The problem is, they can't do much to him because technically he wasn't in the NFL when this happened.

I think he will pay the price and that should be that. Sounds like he got conned by a hottie trickster.

Let's see here... take 4 months and another one in a half-way house or do ten years???? Not a tough decision at all. Whether he is guilty or not, he can't take a chance on going up for a decade.

I haven't followed this closely, but from what I know, he supposedly made a call to help set up a drug deal four years ago. I'm at a bit of a loss to figure out what our justice department is doing prosecuting this many years after the fact. I understand how undercover investigations work, and if a CI was involved, why Lewis wasn't arrested within a week of this happening. But four years later? It may be legal, but it seems wrong.

He's guilty. There's no other way a high profile athlete would take a plea bargain. They can afford the best representation. It's possible that he didn't want to risk more games from a trial, but I highly doubt it. He made a mistake, and will pay for it, then move on.

The only way to know for sure is to sit on the jury and decide. Since thats not gonna happen, I guess you have to accept what he pleas to, and figure he's at least guilty of that.
So , no doubt he's guilty of bad judgement, and hanging with less than desireable associates. But I have no doubt he is a different man now than back then and think the punishment he will receive is appropriate.