Does Crawford Lewis Deserve Jail Time?

In October, former DeKalb Schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer in exchange for his testimony in the racketeering and theft trial against the district’s one-time chief operating officer and her architect ex-husband.

Lewis was originally indicted with Patricia Reid and Tony Pope, but after cutting a deal with the state, he took the witness stand last month in the trial that ended with the convictions of Reid and Pope.

On Monday, Reid was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years probation for racketeering and theft, while her ex-husband received an eight-year prison sentence and a dozen years probation for racketeering. Prosecutors argued that Reid arranged for the district to pay Pope more than $1.4 million for construction contracts that he should not have been the beneficiary of.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker also shocked Lewis by saying he deserved jail time, too, and sentenced Lewis to 12 months in jail for his efforts to derail a probe into the state’s third-largest school district.

Lewis, who had originally faced up to 65 years if convicted of charges from the indictment, was expecting to receive just probation as prosecutors had recommended when they offered Lewis the plea deal in October.

On Tuesday, Lewis filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea if Becker doesn’t sentence him to a year of probation. If she declines, Lewis wants the judge to step away from the case. Lewis, who was handcuffed and escorted to jail Monday, is now awaiting a possible emergency hearing to hear his request.

In the May, 2012 indictment, charges against Lewis, Reid and Pope included four counts of racketeering, one count of bribery, and one count of theft by taking by a government employee.

Now after cutting a deal and testifying for the prosecution, do you feel Lewis deserves prison time? Or is probation enough for the former superintendent?