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A D.C. man was sentenced to more than two-and-a-half years in prison Tuesday for embezzling nearly $320,000 from a nonprofit where he worked as director of finance.
Jarett Lewis, 44, was charged last September with nine counts of wire fraud for misdirecting dozens of payments over the course of a year from the progressive nonprofit where he worked to bank accounts he controlled. Federal prosecutors said Lewis used the stolen money to “create and fund a lavish lifestyle,” including using the nonprofit’s credit card to pay for travel to Thailand for him and a female companion.
Lewis was previously convicted of credit card fraud in 2012 and of falsely impersonating the chief of staff for former Rep. John Lewis in 2016. In February, he pleaded guilty to one of the felony wire fraud counts against him. In a sentencing memo filed last week, federal prosecutors said he should serve 30 months in prison.
“This scheme was not borne out of necessity. It was not an aberration of behavior for someone with an otherwise solid employment record. It was not the effort of a novice,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Truscott wrote in the memo. “The Defendant chose his victim by design and care, and then repeatedly plundered the resources of the victim. This offense abused people, and an organization dedicated to improving our community’s way of life.”
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, sentenced Lewis to 27 months in prison. He also ordered him to repay his former employer more than $360,000 in restitution for the money he stole and attorney fees the nonprofit accrued as a result.
Bates said Lewis’ crime was based on greed, not need, and described it as a “pretty egregious” offense. He also ordered Lewis to serve 3 years on supervised release following his sentence, during which he will be barred from taking any job that involves handling financial matters without approval from the probation office.
According to court filings, Lewis was hired by the nonprofit in June 2021. The first transfers to his accounts began in October of that year and continued until the following October, when the organization fired him for incompetence.
Lewis’ federal public defender, Ubong Akpan, sought a much shorter sentence of just nine months in prison. She said he should receive credit for swiftly pleading guilty and accepting responsibility for his crime. She also pointed to a history of charitable works, including mentoring and coaching youth basketball.
Akpan said Lewis has been especially racked with guilt over the effect his prosecution has had on his son, Acaden Lewis, a standout point guard at D.C.’s Sidwell Friends School who’s now committed to play for the Villanova University Wildcats.
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