Arkansas Online - September 30, 2014 at 3:16am
By Cathy Frye, Ryan McGeeney
Lewis, 33, has an extensive criminal history, stretching back more than a decade. Paroled from a robbery conviction in Louisiana in April 2003, Lewis' parole supervision was transferred to Utah Adult Probation and Parole, said spokesman Brooke Adams.
When Lewis was charged with burglary five months later, Utah sent a parole violation notice to Louisiana. The agency noted the burglary charge, failure to maintain employment and absconding.
After Louisiana issued an arrest warrant, Utah closed Lewis' case in November 2003, Adams said.
That same month, Lewis pleaded guilty to a federal charge of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle in Missouri, court records show.
In that case, Lewis had stolen a motorcycle and driven across state lines. When he was arrested, officers found a sketch of an explosive device, handcuffs, a law enforcement badge and a demand note that was going to be used in a bank robbery.
Lewis' roommate told authorities that Lewis possessed an explosive device. When questioned, Lewis said he had intended to use it in a bank robbery.
On March 11, 2004, he was sentenced to time served with three years of supervised release, court records show.
On April 28, 2004, however, his supervised release was revoked when Lewis stole a motorcycle in Kansas City and drove it to Texas. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison and a year of supervised release, according to court records.
In November 2006, Lewis's supervision was transferred to the Western District of Louisiana. There, Lewis was assigned to a halfway house.
He was kicked out in January 2007, however because of "noncompliant and uncooperative behavior," court records state. The U.S. Probation Department was unaware of his whereabouts until Lewis was arrested a month later by the Ouachita Parish sheriff's office.
During this encounter with law enforcement, Lewis refused to pull over when an officer tried to stop him for failing to dim his lights. Lewis led officers on a high-speed chase and rammed a police car several times. He was later convicted of aggravated flight from a law enforcement officer.
The U.S. Probation Department subsequently revoked his release and sentenced Lewis to 18 months in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release, court records show.
Lewis was no longer under federal supervision when he was arrested and convicted in Arkansas in 2011 on theft of property and theft by receiving charges, said Dina Tyler, deputy director for the Arkansas Department of Community Correction. He was sentenced to six years in prison on those charges but was paroled in 2013.
Lewis was released from the Arkansas Department of Correction on Aug. 8, 2013. He had been sentenced in late 2011 to six years for theft by receiving and theft of property in Northwest Arkansas.
While in prison, Lewis received several disciplinary citations, but those stemmed from mouthing off to correctional officers -- not violent behavior, said Tyler.
Lewis was a "good parolee," by the agency's standards, Tyler said. He met regularly with his parole officer, was current on his fees and had a job at Argos Concrete.
Lewis moved several times without notifying his supervising officer within the required 24-hour time period, but he did always call the agency with his changes in address, Tyler said.
Lewis' demeanor had changed drastically over the past month, Ciccel said.
"He has been acting weird lately," she said. "Like his head was somewhere totally different."
Ciccel said that Lewis called her Thursday -- the day Carter disappeared -- and asked her to help tow his car out of a "mud patch." Ciccel said she refused his request, saying her car was too new, and didn't have a tow bar.