U.S. Attorney’s Office
Evidence found at Lewis’s abode.
After four delays, a federal judge finally handed down a sentence to Vashun Lewis “V‑Love”: seven and a half years in prison.
U.S. District Court Janet Hall, who for various reasons had not ruled in four previously scheduled sentencing hearings, Thursday decided on that prison term as well as five years of supervised release for the offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Judge Hall also reversed a finding in a previous hearing that New Havener Lewis had obstructed justice in interviews with investigators. She did find, however, that Lewis discredited a witness with untruthful information in a 2019 affidavit, ultimately adding an enhancement to his sentence for obstruction of justice, along with additional enhancements due to possessing a stolen firearm.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Hall noted that its length is intended “to reflect the seriousness of what you did.” She added the particular nature of his crime, “guns in connection with drugs,” is one that is consequential.
“The consequence of that connection is that people die,” Hall said.
Hall acknowledged that many of Lewis’ criminal convictions stem from when he was 17 – 23 years old, decades ago. But she said she was concerned by his employment record — or lack thereof — in the years since. Lewis is now 45.
“My sense of you is that you’re a street person,” she said. “You hustle. In that respect, I’m going to strongly recommend to you that you try to get into our reentry court. I think you need some help sort of figuring out how to live a law-abiding life.”
She also recommended that Lewis, who studied in the prison’s libraries when he could due to Covid-19 restrictions and would occasionally file his own motions, “put that energy towards getting [his] GED.”
Lewis’ attorney, Robert Frost, recounted Lewis’ childhood to the court, which he described as “harsh and chaotic and sometimes pretty traumatic.”
Lewis was himself a victim of drug-related violence as a young child, when his mother was threatened inside their own home. He is now the father of four living children and one son, his namesake, who was murdered at the age of 17.
“V‑love is a man who loves people, loves his family, loves his friends,” Frost concluded.
Lewis’ sentence will incorporate time served since March 13, 2020.
I hope that Mr Lewis has an awakening to the fact that the life of drug dealing and its associated violence is a path that only leads to imprisonment or injury or death. If he gets his GED and dedicates his time in prison to improving his life through education, he can break this pattern and become someone who his surviving children and his community can be proud of. It's his choice to decide which path he wants to take for his future and his loved ones.
If we ended the War On Drugs, and treated addiction as a public health emergency, not a moral failure or a criminal enterprise, how many minority and poor communities could be liberated from the trauma of the gangs and violence and loss of family members to the prison system that are associated with the illegal drug trade. How many overdoses could we prevent if we decriminalized drug use and there were no longer illegal drugs containing contaminants and dangerous substances in them. If we had clinics where addicts could go to have supervised and controlled use of their drugs where trained medical staff could keep them from overdosing and offer them addiction recovery treatment and mental health treatment services to wean them off of their addiction and treat their underlying issues that compelled them to use substances when they are ready to get help. How many illegal drug source countries suffering from gangs and violence associated with the illegal drug trade to the US could have their profits wiped out and their drug trade dismantled and would be far safer places to live instead of terrorizing their citizens, who then flee to the US to escape the violence created by the illegal drug trade that our country craves. Think of a world where all of this anguish and terror and loss could be eliminated by simply changing our approach and mindset to illegal substances. Our approach the last 75 years has been a complete and utter failure, and it's time to try something new.