Man pleads guilty, sentenced to prison for stalking Caitlin Clark
A 55 -year -old Texas man who told the police that he was in “an imaginary relationship” with the star of the WNBA, Caitlin Clark, had been sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty of harassment and harassment of Indiana fever.
Michael Lewis, De Denton, Texas, concluded an agreement with the Marion County prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to a chief of crime of harassment and a chief of harassment. He will obtain a credit for the time purged at the County County Detention Center in Marion since his arrest.
Lewis also received the order to stay away from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Fever Events and Indiana Pacers Organization Events, as well as having no contact with Clark, who is 23 years old. Nor will he have internet access during his sentence.
“This resolution guarantees that the accused is held responsible for his threatening actions, the fear he has inspired and the disturbances he caused,” said Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears, according to Wthr Channel 13 in Indianapolis. “He will now spend the next 2 and a half years at the Ministry of Correction and the victim may have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her.”
The judge also recommended that Lewis, who declared during the Monday hearing procedure that the end of the world was coming, received mental health treatment.
“You cannot help yourself before you get help,” the judge told Lewis.
Lewis was arrested on January 12 after the authorities allegedly sent hundreds of “threats and sexually explicit messages” to X in Clark between December 12, 2024 and January 11, 2025.
“Led in your 3X house per day,” sent a message to Lewis to Clark, according to court documents. “But do not call the law for the moment, the publication is authorized to drive by Gainbridge..aka Caitlin’s Fieldhouse.”
“I receive tickets. I’m sitting behind the bench,” reads another message.
“They said I was sending threatening texts … But the only one thought it was … caitliiiiiiiiiiiinnn,” read another.
Other messages were sexually violent, according to court documents.
The FBI followed the IP addresses of Lewis messages at a hotel in downtown Indianapolis as well as the Indianapolis public library. Indianapolis police then made a wellness check on Lewis, according to court documents, and he told the police that he was in “an imaginary relationship” with Clark and that he came to Indianapolis on vacation.
The messages in Clark continued after the initial police visit.
Clark, the n ° 1 choice of the WNBA 2024 draft, was limited to 13 games this season due to injuries and is currently sidelined with a tense straight groin.
In December, a 40 -year -old man from Oregon pleaded guilty of hunt for Paige Bueckers and was sentenced to one year and three years of probation.
Katie Barnes d’Espn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
