
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 14, 1994                   TAG: 9407140108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Skip Burkart has known Michael Theodore Lewis for a long time. He represented Lewis years ago, back when Burkart was a defense attorney. One of his current assistants, Randy Leach, once defended Lewis, too.

In Circuit Court on Wednesday, Burkart mentioned his own connections with Lewis and noted that the judge, Kenneth Trabue, had had Lewis in front of him in the past. Even Jonathan Apgar, a defense attorney sitting in the front row waiting for another case, had once represented him. It was like a reunion for Lewis.

``C'mon, man,'' Lewis said from the defendants' table, laughing and shaking his head at the prosecutor's tongue-in-cheek litany. ``C'mon, man.''

Lewis, 35, of Roanoke, then apologized for his two new theft convictions - for stealing cigarettes from grocery stores.

Trabue sentenced him to four years in prison on the charges, but said Lewis could serve them in a drug-treatment program.

As bailiffs led him away, Lewis smiled and waved at Burkart.

``No more,'' he promised. ``No more.''

by CNB