ERIC LEWIS PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT
Everybody in Louisville, Illinois is just waiting to see if he’ll get the federal equivalent of a slap on the wrist, like he did when he stole from Effingham farm service in 2000.
Here’s a pic of “the house that Crow’s Seed built”:
Interestingly, when we obtained this shot back in early April, Eric must have known something was up because he came chasing after us out of Bible Grove, but gave up before we reached Highway 45 (might’ve known that if we stopped the car and got out, we’d have a better shot at getting a pic of his FACE, which we’d really like to have in case any of you dear readers would like to email it to us, contact info is at the ‘about us’ link).
Disclosure has been covering the Lewis case since a year ago. Unfortunately, since last fall, it really has slogged through the court system and there weren’t a lot of updates to be had. However, we learned that Lewis was working on a plea well over a month ago, hence the need to get a pic of the house (before…forfeiture? Those federal civil cases can be brutal when the party that was wronged wants their money back…)
Here’s the backstory: Eric Lewis, 33, has been working in the ag field (seed distribution) for a long time. In 2000, he was working for farm service (Effingham-Clay) and filched several tens of thousands of dollars through fraudulent seed sales. He was convicted and ordered to pay back over $50,000, which he did over two and a half years’ time (must’ve saved some of what he filched, just in case).
Then in 2008, a federal civil suit was filed by Crow’s Seed (Biocorp) out of Indiana, for whom he’d been working for a few years. They claimed that he used a ‘seed scheme’ to filch MILLIONS through them, and named as co-defendants several people in Effingham and Clay counties who purchased the seed from him. Crow’s went after them, too; for the outcome of that, you’ll have to read the print version on stands June 17.
Even more interesting is that Crow’s named as yet another co-defendant Clay County State Bank, for cashing million-dollar checks Lewis deposited in his account, but that were made out to Crow’s. Not much mention is being made of THAT by MSM, as they are hesitant to cover issues involving banks; see the June 17 issue for more.
But most interesting of all is that this was just a CIVIL SUIT. The federales didn’t go after Lewis, they just assisted in the pursuit of the civil suit through the court system in Benton on behalf of the plaintiff, Crow’s. For those who don’t yet understand what this means, here it is: CRIMINAL CHARGES had yet to be filed. They have been now. And when it all gets finalized, Lewis is probably going to hope that at his new job with Beck’s seed out of Indiana, they think he’s a model employee, because he’s going to need all the monetary help he can get at that point.
Well, that and if he’s been doing the same thing there that he’s got a track record of doing for the past ten years or so, they haven’t discovered it yet….we’re just sayin….
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Short URL: http://www.disclosurenewsonline.com/?p=262
Posted by Chris Beavers
on May 19 2009. Filed under Clay.
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I am confused about which case he is pleading guilty-criminl or civil. Since the original case was a civil suit, why would he plea to money laundrying and mail fraud to avoid indictment by the grand jury-which is what I have heard?
I don't know who he is using as an attorney since last time I checked PACE he had gotten rid of his attorney. If this plea is civil what does it do to case that other defendants and Clay County Bank filed against him? Also what does it mean to Crow suit against all of the defendants, Lewis and the Bank.
I still find it amazing that CLAY County Republican which is less than 50 feet from Clay County Bank has never had anything in paper-yet everyone who spits on sidewalk, forgets to wear seatbelt, etc get there name in the paper!! Republican has turned into a sports paper and school events paper with classified ads-no news.
Confused
It's all civil. There so far isn't a criminal case against him. There isn't even a separate case of the other defendants/CC Bank being sued. It's all styled under one filing.
Now, when it gets to the criminal realm, there won't be all this he said/she said thing between all the defendants. In the criminal realm, each individual or entity has to have his own separate matter. So if Crow's has a legitimate case against the bank, there'll be a filing on that. If there is a case against Deuker, there'll be a separate filing on that. But Crow's has to hope they have the support of the U.S. prosecutor's office. Only a prosecutor can go after someone criminally; Crow's can't. We could see a flurry of criminal filings once the civil suit is settled, or we could see nothing. The settlement of the civil suit simply means that Crow's is going to get back some of what was stolen from them, if not all, upon the sale/pieces-parts of the house.
Early on, we presupposed that Lewis would probably lose everything he had to Crow's before any criminal charges are filed, because all Crow's was interested in was their money, not justice. If criminal charges had been filed first, the judge could have ordered Lewis to turn over his possessions in a "fines and fees" thing, but Crow's might not have gotten much; the criminal charges might have wiped Lewis out. Now, the U.S. attorney can go after Lewis if he so chooses, and Crow's won't lose anything.
But Lewis will! He can't pay anything back if he's sitting in the Federal Bureau of Prisons somewhere!
The CCR is a rag. It absolutely IS amazing that they're even in existence, ignoring things like the Bible case, the ongoing pollution there, and the Lewis case, among plenty of others. But as long as people are fooled by their happy-dappy-sappy coverage of everything in Clay that ISN'T news, they'll sell ads to make ends meet, and so many people will continue to believe that nothing bad is going on in your little corner of the state. And we all know that's simply not true.
Thanks for writing!
UPDATE
Upon closer inspection (for this month's issue) we've discovered that Lewis actually was charged criminally AND pled guilty on the same day–May 18–and that the civil suit isn't completely settled yet. He's to be sentenced in August. Crow's is apparently fighting the whole "opening the settlement" thing (they came to some kind of settlement back in May) but they need to try to get it all over with before he is sent off the BOP.
Look for the story in the print edition, where we get it all straightened out.