University of Kentucky wide receiver Rahsaan Lewis, son of NFL legend Ray Lewis, entered a plea deal for a DUI arrest last month. The younger Lewis pled guilty.
Rashaan was stopped by police while he was driving in downtown Lexington. Official documents stated he showed signs of impairment and had a blood alcohol concentration of .153, nearly double the legal limit. He was also charged with an improper start and reckless driving.
As a part of the plea deal, because it was his first offense, the reckless driving charge and improper start charge were merged as part of the plea. Lewis was sentenced to four days home incarceration and ordered to pay a $200 fine with $568 in court costs and his driver’s license was suspended.
The Kentucky athletic department had no comment on Lewis’ plea deal. He had been practicing with the team since his arrest, and participated in Fan Day.
Lewis, a walk-on senior, played in six games last season. He had two catches for 4 yards and also had a punt return for 12 yards vs. New Mexico State. He previously played at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Central Florida before transferring to Kentucky.
As you may remember, Lewis’ father Ray was involved in a double homicide case during his NFL playing days.
Ray Lewis attended a Super Bowl XXXIV party in January 2000 in Atlanta with a group of friends, including Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting. While leaving the party Lewis’ group of friends got into an altercation with another group. The altercation resulted in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar.
Lewis, Oakley and Sweeting were questioned by the police, and eventually indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges.
The infamous white suit Lewis was wearing the night of the killings has never been found. The district attorney that tried the case alleged the blood-stained suit was dumped in a garbage bin outside a fast food restaurant.
A knife found at the scene did not have any fingerprints or DNA. Lewis subsequently testified that Oakley and Sweeting had bought knives earlier in the week before the Super Bowl from a Sports Authority where Lewis had been signing autographs. Baker’s blood was found inside of Lewis’s limousine.
Lewis’ attorneys negotiated a plea agreement with the DA in which the murder charges against Lewis were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against Oakley and Sweeting, and a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. Lewis was sentenced to 12 months probation and fined $250,000 by the NFL. He settled a civil suit with the Lollar family in 2004.
Oakley and Sweeting were acquitted of the charges in June 2000. The murders remain unsolved.
Lewis spent two weeks in jail at the start of the trial and says that time helped save his life.
“I had a lot of time to myself while I was incarcerated,” said Lewis. “So maybe what I went through, actually saved my life.”
The next season Lewis led the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl XXXV title and was named Super Bowl MVP.
