Multiple phone calls to protected party from jail result in additional charges for IC man
Hunter
6/28/19
An Iowa City man incarcerated at the Johnson County Jail made dozens of phone calls to a protected party on a recorded line, according to authorities.
39-year-old Maurice Lewis is accused of making a total of 68 phone calls from the jail to the protected party from May 11th to May 23rd. The victim has a no contact order against him.
Lewis allegedly spoke to the victim on multiple locations, in violation of the no-contact order, and used a third party to communicate for him because he is deaf. On one occasion, Lewis is accused of asking the victim to pay a witness to skip court proceedings against him.
Lewis, who was homeless and was staying in different residences, was taken into custody April 27th after allegedly striking his girlfriend of two years in the face numerous times at an apartment in the 1900 block of Broadway Street. Lewis told authorities at the time that he was “playing” with the woman and said she got mad and called police because he was playing with her too much. At least one of the woman’s two children were present during the altercation.
Authorities allege that Lewis tried to run once he read the officer’s lips and realized he was going to be arrested.
Because of the multiple calls to the victim, an additional no-contact order was filed Thursday.
He’s charged with the violations of the no contact order, plus original charges of 3rd or subsequent Domestic Assault, Interference with Official Acts and Child Endangerment. If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to over seven years in prison.
Lewis has a case management conference scheduled for July 12th with jury trial set for July 16th.
