An ex-sheriff in South Carolina will serve a one-year in prison for allegedly using power to pressure a personal assistant (PA) to have sex with him.
Will Lewis ran out of appeals after the South Carolina Supreme Court recently refused to reconsider its August decision upholding his 2019 conviction, reported ABC News. South Carolina Corrections Department spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said that he was at the state prison's evaluation center Wednesday while officials decide where he should serve his sentence.
Lewis' attorney wants him to be kept at a jail out of state for safety purpose since he was sheriff, and prison administrators are reviewing that request. Officials said that with good behavior, Lewis, who was convicted in 2019 of misconduct, will likely serve less than six months.
He hired an assistant who was 22 years old at the time and was paid $62,000 a year. He gave her a county vehicle and other perks to groom her into a sexual relationship, said prosecutors. His actions were found to be criminal in nature because he misused county money to hire an unqualified person for an unnecessary position and then used county resources like his mobile phone to continue his relationship with her.
Lewis' lawyer argued that the charge was vague and that even though his actions were immoral, they were not illegal, but the South Carolina Supreme Court rejected the argument. His misconduct was “brazen, naked corruption” as he made arrangements to have the woman come to a budget conference that was held out of town and put a whisky bottle in her bag so he would have an excuse to get it late at night in her room, said solicitor Kevin Brackett.
In 2017, during a budget trip to Charlotte, Lewis had sex with his assistant. He testified the sex was consensual while the assistant said that after a night of drinking, they went back to her hotel room and she woke up with him having sex with her. The woman filed a civil lawsuit against the former sheriff in October four years ago. In October 2018, a settlement was reached. The woman was later paid nearly $100,000 from a state insurance fund, according to WYFF 4.
Since 2010, at least 13 sheriffs in the state’s 46 counties have been convicted of crimes, and Lewis is one of them.
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