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Michael Lewis, a 55-year-old man from Texas, was sentenced to more than 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and harassing Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.
Lewis was arrested in January at an Indianapolis hotel and charged with felony stalking after allegedly sending repeated threats and violent messages to Clark through social media, per court records.
Lewis’ sentence includes time served at Marion County Adult Detention Center, where he’s been since his arrest.
“This resolution ensures that the defendant is held accountable for his threatening actions, the fear he instilled, and the disruption he caused,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said, per WTHR Ch. 13 in Indianapolis following the sentence of Lewis. “He will now spend the next two and a half years in the Department of Correction, and the victim will be able to have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her.”
Lewis was also ordered to avoid any contact with Clark, to stay away from Fever or Indiana Pacers games and the team’s properties, and not to use the internet as part of his sentence, per WTHR.
CAITLIN CLARK NEEDS TO BE HELD BACK IN HEATED CONFRONTATION WITH WNBA REF
He was also recommended to receive mental health treatment.
“You can’t help yourself until you get help,” the judge told Lewis, who said during Monday’s hearing that the end of the world was coming.
Lewis was sending Clark messages through his X account, with one of them saying he’d been driving around her house multiple times, encouraging her “not to call the law just yet.” He also sent that he purchased tickets to a game right behind the bench.
“They said I was sending threatening texts. But the only though [sic] on my mind was….CAITLIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN,” another message to Clark read.
Clark had told authorities she feared for her safety before Lewis had entered Indianapolis, adding that she’d alter her appearance before going out in public.
When questioned about the message on Jan. 8, Lewis reportedly told police he was going to Indianapolis for vacation and downplayed the number of messages he sent Clark. He added that it was a “fantasy-type thing” and a “joke.”
“It takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t,” Mears said when Lewis was arrested, via FOX 59. “In doing so, the victim is setting an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the threat of sexual violence.”
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