State’s Attorney Wes Adams claims his office scored a major conviction in a murder case while his GOP opponent “was prepared to offer an easy plea agreement,” despite his own office’s decision to reach a plea agreement in the case.
In a campaign press release, Adams cited the case of Gregory Lewis, the Millersville man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Rene Leiva-Archila in October 2013.
Lewis was dubbed the “Craigslist killer,” a reference to the fact prosecutors said Leiva-Archila was lured by a fake Craigslist ad to a parking lot where he was shot. Adams used the case to laud his office’s actions and to criticize his GOP primary opponent, Kathy Rogers. She was the original prosecutor on the case before she was fired by Adams on his first day in office in 2015.
“Before the end of my first quarter in office, we had convicted the Craigslist killer, who my opponent was prepared to offer an easy plea agreement, and sent him to jail for the rest of his life,” the release reads.
There’s no evidence that Rogers was ready to offer Lewis an agreement while she was still a prosecutor on the case. Adams’ office accepted a plea agreement that was less than what Rogers said she was seeking at the time.
Lewis pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and armed robbery on Feb. 9, 2015, according to online court records and reports in The Capital.
A report in The Capital outlined that prosecutors agreed to a sentence of life in prison with all but 60 years suspended, which was handed down by Circuit Court Judge William Mulford II on Feb. 18.
Adams acknowledged the agreed-upon sentence, saying it would “keep the defendant in jail well into his 90s.”
Rogers disputes she “was prepared to offer an easy plea agreement,” pointing to reports leading up to the trial in The Capital.
In a story about Lewis’ sentencing, Rogers said she was “completely prepared” to bring Lewis to trial and prior to her firing was seeking a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
She reiterated that Friday, saying there was “never any formal plea offer” made to Lewis while she was handling the case.
“We would have never accepted anything that didn’t include life,” she added.
Lewis’ defense attorney could not be reached for comment.
Adams did not respond to a request for comment.
