Former DeKalb County School Superintendent Crawford Lewis will appeal a judge’s sentence of 12 months in jail for obstruction before deciding if he will withdraw the guilty plea to a misdemeanor.
Lewis expected to be sentenced to 12 months probation in exchange for his testimony against former school district Chief Operating Officer Pat Reid and her ex-husband, architect Tony Pope, who were both convicted of racketeering and given substantial prison sentences. Lewis was initially charged with racketeering for allegedly helping Reid and Pope manipulate construction contracts to benefit A. Vincent Pope & Associates, and was facing a possible 65 years in prison when he struck the deal just days before he was to go on trial.
Lewis was stunned when Judge Cynthia Becker did not go along with what he thought was a solid deal.
Becker said she had the discretion to change the sentence if she did not feel Lewis had held up his end of the deal by testifying “truthfully.”
Lewis will ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to review Becker’s decision and then will decide if he wants to withdraw his plea and risk going on trial on the original felony charges.
In the meantime, Lewis is free on bail.
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