Judge cuts sentence in UNC assault case

CHAPEL HILL -- A judge has cut several years off the prison sentence of a Durham man convicted on robbery charges involving three UNC-Chapel Hill football players.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Carl Fox said he reconsidered the maximum 30 years and 6 months prison sentence he had given Michael Troy Lewis after realizing Lewis would be about 64 when he got out of prison. He reduced the sentence to between approximately 17 and 22 years.

Studies show many offenders age out of criminal behavior much sooner than that, giving themselves a chance at rehabilitation, Fox said. The long sentence was also not in the interests of taxpayers, he said.

"I thought I had given him an excessive amount of time," the judge, a former prosecutor, said by telephone Friday evening. "He hadn't seriously injured any of the people involved."

Fox said he did speak with the father of one of the players before reducing Lewis' sentence. But he said he did not change the sentence because of that conversation.

"I did talk with the father of one of the victims, and he indicated 13 to 16 [years] was what he was thinking was appropriate," Fox said. "He wanted the guy to have another chance."

A jury found the 33-year-old Lewis guilty on several charges, including conspiring with two women to commit larceny and kidnapping.

Police said one of the players met Lewis and the women at a Chapel Hill bar Dec. 12 and invited them back to his apartment. Investigators said the players were tied up and robbed.