"All you were doing was objecting that the sentence you asked for wasn't given, right?" asked Senior U.S. ![]() The government never said we thought the sentence was substantively unreasonable," Ross told the panel. The government did not waive its ability to enforce the appeal waiver. "The objection was merely an attempt to support the plea agreement. Attorney Jonathan Ross echoed Carnes' statement during his brief arguments. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes appeared unconvinced, telling Lund, "It's perfectly consistent that the government could support an objection and also say that the appeal is still waived."Īssistant U.S. The government joined in Lewis' objection to the reasonableness of the sentence and the government's objection results in a waiver on appeal," Lund argued.Ĭhief U.S. "When the government objected in support of defendant on his sentence, the government waived the sentence appeal waiver. Lund asked the panel to rule that the government waived the sentence appeal prohibition contained in the plea agreement when it joined Lewis in objecting to his sentence at the sentencing hearing. On Wednesday, Mackenzie Lund, an assistant federal defender representing Lewis, asked a three-judge 11th Circuit panel to find that Lewis' prison sentence of two and a half years was unreasonable. ![]() Lewis signed a plea agreement with the government, agreeing to plead guilty and waive his right to appeal in exchange for a reduced sentence. Roberson Excavation was ordered to pay $60,000 in penalties and agreed to release up to $154,000 of the money it previously claimed back to the Dale County Water Authority. The charges against Roberson were eventually dismissed by the government. Roberson also told Lewis to manipulate pressure testing on the water lines to disguise the presence of leaks, court records show.Īfter the falsified samples tested negative for the presence of bacteria, Roberson Excavation submitted the lab report to the project engineer, falsely certified that it had completed the required water testing, and requested payment. ![]() In February 2015, Lewis submitted clean water samples to a laboratory from water lines connected to a fire hydrant which had already been tested and cleared of bacteria, claiming that the clean samples came from the newly installed water lines. ![]() The tests falsified by Lewis included those used to determine whether harmful bacteria were present in the water. Under pressure to complete the job quickly, Roberson instructed Lewis to falsify the testing required before the water lines went into operation. Lewis's co-defendant, Billy Ray Roberson, was the owner and president of Roberson Excavation.īy the time Lewis was hired, Roberson Excavation was nearly three months behind schedule on the job and was paying penalties of $500 per day that the project went unfinished. ATLANTA (CN) - An attorney for a Florida man who admitted to falsifying water samples in southeastern Alabama asked an 11th Circuit panel Wednesday to rule that his 30-month sentence for fraud is unreasonable.ĭarin Lewis, of Crestview, Florida, pleaded guilty in February 2017 to one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud as part of a scheme to falsify water samples during the testing of new water lines installed in Dale County, Alabama.Īccording to his indictment, Lewis was hired by Roberson Excavation in January 2015 as a site supervisor after the company was awarded a contract by the Dale County Water Authority to replace water lines in the Marley Mill neighborhood.
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