ALBANY -- John Lewis will get the substance abuse treatment his attorney had requested, but the fired city cop must also serve 16 months in prison for having a gun in 2009 belonging to a fallen officer that by law he should have surrendered.
At the time, Lewis, 41, was banned from having weapons as a condition of an order of protection from a domestic dispute with his then-wife.
But before Lewis begins serving his federal prison time, he must first appear before Visiting Schenectady County Court Judge Frank Milano, who is expected to sentence him to a year in jail.
The penalty is part of an negotiated plea where Lewis in July admitted to felony computer tampering charge and a driving while intoxicated offense, a penalty to run concurrently with the federal time he received Thursday from U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue in Albany.
The broader plea agreement also covered a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge and assault charges related to allegations Lewis beat up his new wife. Lewis had told prosecutors he would plead guilty to the gun charges.
On Thursday, Mordue also ordered Lewis, 41, to undergo mental health counselling, refrain from consuming alcohol after he is released and pay for all the costs associated with the treatment.
Lewis apologized to the people he hurt as well as to family and friends for his criminal behavior.
Outside court, defense attorney Michael Horan said he was disappointed Lewis was not put into treatment right away, as he had sought. He argued his client's personal life began going downhill because of work-related post traumatic disorder after Police Officer Eric Vertaramo died in the line of duty on Easter Sunday 2004 when his cruiser slammed into a pole on Broadway. Horan said Lewis and Vertaramo were once partners. In 2009, Lewis was prohibited from having the weapon by an order of protection resulting from a dispute with his then-wife in Schenectady.
Over the past 21/2 years, Lewis has been arrested seven times, mostly on domestic and drunken-driving charges.
He has remained in federal custody since June 12 at the Albany County Jail. With time served, Lewis could be released in about eight months, Horan added. After that he will be on probation for three years under the sentence Mordue imposed.
I wonder who's paying for his rehab! Or how much this entire fiasco cost the taxpayers!
Watch for his name to appear in the paper again in a few years.....yes?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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