Ex-lawmaker David Lewis pleads guilty to felonies. Prosecutors recommend no jail time.
A week ago, David Lewis was one of North Carolina’s most powerful political figures.
On Wednesday in Charlotte, the former Harnett County legislator became the state’s latest prominent Republican to walk out of a courtroom as a convicted felon.
In a 30-minute hearing in the federal courthouse, Lewis pleaded guilty to not filing his taxes and lying to a bank.
Court documents paint a clearer picture of Lewis’ crimes: In 2018, the 49-year-old N.C. House member and farmer from Dunn tried to slip $65,000 from his campaign account into his own pockets. Lewis also failed to file a federal tax return that same year.
“Are you in fact guilty?” U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer asked Lewis at 12:15 p.m. after going through each of the charges. The brawny Lewis leaned down toward the microphone to respond.
“Yes, your honor,” he said in a muffled voice.
Outside the courtroom after his plea, Lewis and his attorney Joshua Howard said they had no comment. Lewis will be sentenced at a later date. He was freed Wednesday on a $25,000 bond.
During his 17 years in the General Assembly, Lewis accrued significant power. Yet court documents show that his 2018 effort to hide the illegal siphoning of his supporters’ donations relied on almost a child’s strategy, like a student forging a parent’s name on an unfortunate report card.
As a part of his scheme, Lewis reported that his campaign was sending money to the state Republican Party. Instead, the lawmaker was writing checks to a bank account he controlled. Its name: “NC GOP, Inc.”
The bank charge alone carries a punishment of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. In return for Lewis’ guilty plea, however, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte set his sentencing guidelines at probation to six months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Washington announced in court Wednesday that the government will not be seeking an active sentence.
That’s the same deal state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes received for pleading guilty last year in a separate Republican Party scandal involving the attempted bribing of Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
Court documents show that Hayes, a longtime member of Congress from Concord, enthusiastically agreed to launder up to $2 million in bribes through the state GOP that would be funneled to Causey as campaign donations.
On Aug. 19, Hayes, a wealthy heir to the Cannon Mills fortune, received probation and a $9,500 fine after pleading guilty to the reduced charge of lying to the FBI.
His two conspirators, Durham businessman Greg Lindberg and his business associate John Gray, were both sentenced to prison after being convicted at trial.
The next day, the charges against Lewis surfaced. Lewis, after announcing in July that he was giving up his seat to spend more time with his family, resigned immediately.
The timing between the Gray and Lewis cases is not pure coincidence. While investigating Gray, prosecutors say they came across Lewis’ criminal activity.
Lewis’ use of campaign money appears tied to the financial struggles of his farm, which first came to light in 2019. WRAL reported that Gray had given Lewis a loan of $500,000 that Gray then didn’t collect on after it came due.
As chairman of the House Rules Committee, Lewis controlled the flow of legislation. He also was one of the key architects of a controversial North Carolina congressional redistricting map which he acknowledged had been drawn for blatantly political purposes.
The redistricting lines had given “partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats,” Lewis said, because he did not believe it was possible to come up with a legal map for 11 Republicans and two Democrats.
“I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats,” Lewis said. “So I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country.”
During the 2018 absentee-voting scandal in the 9th Congressional District in which an apparent GOP victory was overturned, Lewis introduced a bill that would put Republicans in charge of every election board in every election year.
For the time being, Lewis will have no role in the political process. After signing the plea deal with federal prosecutors, Lewis gave up his right to hold office or cast a vote.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 3:30 PM.
