Man draws 23 years in prison

UNC athletes were assaulted last year

HILLSBOROUGH -- The Durham man accused of tying up two UNC-Chapel Hill football players and conspiring with two women to rob them will spend 23 years of his life behind bars.

A jury early Tuesday evening found Michael Troy Lewis, 33, guilty of first degree-kidnapping, conspiring with two women to commit larceny and kidnapping, common law robbery, misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.

The 10-woman, two-man panel found Lewis not guilty of one charge of assault on a law enforcement officer.

The verdicts ended a three-day trial in which two North Carolina Tar Heel football players and one former player described a night of drunken partying this past December that ended up with police being called to Chapel Ridge Apartments, where two of them lived, to investigate a string of crimes.

Lewis, who turned down a plea offer to take his case to trial, denied tying up the players as he addressed Judge Carl Fox before the sentencing.

"I apologize for the people I injured, but I can only apologize for things I've done," Lewis said. "Nothing happened intentionally other than me stealing. The tying up never happened."

Lewis is one of three people charged in a case that stemmed from a night of excessive drinking for three Tar Heel football players. Two of the players told police they were sexually assaulted by women that one of the players invited back to their apartment.

The News & Observer generally does not identify people who report that they were sexually assaulted.

Monique J. Taylor of Greenville has been charged with resisting a public officer, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of felony conspiracy and three counts of first-degree sex offense in the case. Tnika Monta Washington of Durham is charged with resisting a public officer.

Lewis also had a federal bank robbery conviction on his record, something Fox considered when deciding on a prison sentence.

"This man is dangerous," Assistant District Attorney Morgan Whitney told Fox before Lewis was sentenced. "He came over to Chapel Hill with the intention of robbing somebody."

Russell Hollers, the defense lawyer who did not put any witnesses on the stand in defense of his client, announced plans on Tuesday evening to appeal the verdict.

Butch Davis, the Tar Heel football coach, said Tuesday he did not know a great deal of the particulars about the case.

Testimony revealed the players -- one of them underage at the time -- consumed more than a case of beer Dec. 16 to celebrate the 21st birthday of Lowell Dyer, a center who ended his first night of legal age to drink with his arms bound, his feet tied and his wallet stolen by Lewis.

"There was a lot of stuff they were advised not to share with anybody because of the sensitivity and the nature of whatever the case was," Davis said.