Lewis’ Murder Charge Dropped

Ray Lewis’ nightmarish off-season took a life-altering, career-saving turn Monday when prosecutors in Atlanta dropped murder and assault charges against the Baltimore Raven linebacker in exchange for his testimony against two co-defendants.

Lewis, who could be practicing with the Ravens as early as next week, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor, in Fulton County Superior Court.

Under a deal brokered late Sunday between Fulton County Dist. Atty. Paul Howard and Lewis attorney Ed Garland, Lewis agreed to a sentence of 12 months probation for his part in a Jan. 31 street brawl in the Buckhead section of the city that left two men dead.

Lewis, 25, must check in with a probation officer in Georgia once a month, remain employed and not use drugs or alcohol. He also must pay one-third of the prosecution’s court costs in the case.

The NFL said he might be fined but will not be suspended.

“He was an innocent man, wrongly accused, and who’s been through an awful ordeal,” Garland said Monday. “Today he has been exonerated.”

In Baltimore, the Ravens said that Lewis, the NFL’s leading tackler last season, will be welcome to rejoin the team at a voluntary minicamp next week.

“The players are obviously excited to have this behind them, keeping all this in the context that two people are dead,” Coach Brian Billick said. “What we’re here to do now is move beyond this.”

Lewis and two friends, Joseph Sweeting, 34, and Reginald Oakley, 31, were charged with murder, felony murder and aggravated assault in the stabbings of Richard Lollar, 24, and Jacinth Baker, 21, after a night of post-Super Bowl partying.

Oakley and Sweeting, both of whom were with Lewis the night of the murders, have pleaded not guilty to the charges and were caught off-guard by Lewis’ deal.

“It looks like Ray is going to play and Reggie is going to pay,” said Bruce Harvey, an attorney for Oakley. “They just proved he [Lewis] was a liar and now they’re going to put him on the stand for the prosecution.”

Another of Oakley’s attorneys, David Wolfe, said Lewis had no reason to plead guilty because the prosecution’s case was so weak.

“The chances of this guy getting convicted of anything were as likely as John Rocker winning the Anti-Defamation League’s lifetime achievement award,” Wolfe said.

Lewis’ plea bargain, in fact, came amid reports that charges against him might be dismissed because prosecutors had failed to present enough compelling evidence.

After two weeks of testimony, no witnesses reported seeing Lewis with a knife. Admitted con man Chester Anderson was the only witness to testify he saw Lewis actively take part in the brawl, saying he witnessed Lewis “kicking” a man lying in the street during the fight. Anderson’s testimony, however, was contradicted by two men who said they were walking with him at the time.

The lack of evidence had prompted several legal experts who have followed the case to predict a directed verdict of acquittal, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for trying to cover up his role in the deaths and by misleading police.

Witnesses said he told people with him the night of the fight to “Keep your mouth shut.”

“He fully acknowledges his responsibility for those acts,” Garland told Judge Alice Bonner.

The district attorney’s office is investigating another person about the killings based on a videotaped statement given to prosecutors Sunday, Howard said. He declined to name the suspect.

Meanwhile, relatives of the victims gathered outside the courtroom, many in tears.

“You let a guilty man go free,” said Thomasaina Threatt, Lollar’s aunt. “Where’s the justice in that?”

Lewis’ record could be expunged if he successfully completes his sentence, but his deal does not prevent the victims’ families from filing civil lawsuits.

The murder case was one of two involving NFL players last season. Wide receiver Rae Carruth of the Carolina Panthers was arrested in January on murder charges in the shooting of his pregnant girlfriend. His trial continues in Charlotte.

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Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.