A settlement has been reached in the civil case involving suspended Greenville County, South Carolina sheriff Will Lewis, county taxpayers and Savannah Nabors, the woman who accused the embattled lawman of stalking, drugging and raping her during her brief tenure as an employee in his office.
“We settled,” Nabors’ attorney Lauren Taylor told us Friday. “The terms of the settlement are confidential.”
Taylor told us she had no further comment on the case.
Nabors dropped her bombshell lawsuit against Lewis (and Greenville County government) last October, news of which was exclusively reported here on FITSNews.com. This case had been in mediation for several months, but that process was delayed earlier this year when Nabors gave birth to her first child.
On Wednesday, U.S. district court judge Donald Coggins dismissed the case after the parties reached their undisclosed agreement.
While the resolution of this civil action would seem to be a welcome development for Lewis, the scandal-scarred law man is not off of the hook as it relates to his criminal case. Back in April, Lewis was indicted on misconduct in office and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his association with Nabors. That case – which is being managed by S.C. sixteenth circuit solicitor Kevin Brackett – is still pending.
Incidentally, Nabors (below) may also be in some trouble related to that inquiry.
(Click to view)
(Via: Provided)
Nabors’ allegations against Lewis – which we exclusively reported a year ago – sparked the criminal investigation that led to his downfall. The 25-year-old sheriff’s office employee accused Lewis of sexually assaulting her during a March 2017 business trip to Charlotte, North Carolina. Those rape allegations – made in a since-deleted blog post – are currently being investigated by the Charlotte-Mecklenberg police department.
“He’s a church-going man, strong in his faith,” Nabors wrote in the post. “You think he could never be capable of something so manipulative, so hypocritical. The man that you think is legal, ethical, and moral is anything but those things.”
The more the Lewis saga unfolded, the more damning the case against him became.
Most of the ammunition was contained in Nabors’ lawsuit – which contained a graphic recollection of the alleged rape.
(Nabors) remembers regaining consciousness when the Sheriff was on top of her, having sex with her. It took (her) a second to realize what was happening and she had no idea how long it had gone on. The Sheriff asked (her) if she was ready for him to “finish,” and (she) said yes. The Sheriff then giggled, making a joke about how long he could “last,” and added that he was sure (Nabors) was not used to that. (Nabors) then lost consciousness again.
Wow.
The lawsuit also contained audio recordings of Nabors’ interaction with Lewis. In one of these recordings, Lewis discussed his plans to further an affair with her on the taxpayer dime – and cover it up.
When Nabors referred to Lewis’ plan for the two of them to jointly attend a taxpayer-funded conference in Reno, Nevada as “too risky,” he insisted she come with him anyway.
“Ain’t nobody gonna find out – because nobody is going to be out there from South Carolina,” Lewis responded. “Nobody is going to find out. That’s the whole point.”
Upon hearing this audio evidence, this news outlet issued the first public call for Lewis to resign – irrespective of the disposition of the rape allegation against him.
“It is abundantly clear that Lewis plotted to defraud taxpayers as part of his efforts to advance an affair with Nabors – secure in the knowledge that no one would ever find out about his scheming,” we wrote.
Lewis has yet to step down, however such a move could come as part of his plea deal with prosecutors. That reminds us: A host of candidates are awaiting the disposition of the criminal charges against Lewis so they can run for his seat – which has been filled on an interim basis by former Greenville sheriff Johnny Mack Brown.
[su_dominion_video_scb]Developing …
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