Federal prosecutors open ‘separate and distinct’ case against Eric Lewis, man charged with killing Philly police officer
The federal charges would complement a separate murder case that remains active, said David Metcalf, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Federal prosecutors are opening a separate criminal case against Eric Lewis, the man charged with killing a Philadelphia police officer and seriously wounding another this month.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, speaking Thursday at a news conference alongside Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel and other law enforcement leaders, said federal prosecutors have charged Lewis, 35, with a host of firearms crimes.
Lewis, who was previously convicted of assault and a gun crime at the state level, meets the federal definition of a felon, Metcalf said in explaining why federal prosecutors were involved.
The additional charges, he said, would complement a separate murder case that remains active with prosecutors in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
“The Department of Justice has a distinct and compelling and powerful federal interest in prosecuting felons who use firearms to rob, shoot, and kill police officers,” said Metcalf, whose office covers the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The Justice Department’s involvement marks the latest development in a crime that stunned the city’s law enforcement community and exacerbated tensions between police and District Attorney Larry Krasner. Three days after the shooting, Krasner accused officers of procedural errors and misbehavior that was “arguably criminal” that led to Lewis’ acquittal in a prior murder case.
Bethel, addressing those remarks for the first time Thursday, called the district attorney’s comments “unacceptable.”
Krasner said in a statement Thursday evening that his remarks had been “intended to correct false information.”
Lewis remains in custody without bail in the fatal shooting of Officer Shane Seiber and the wounding of his partner, Officer Hector Rodriguez III, on a West Philadelphia porch in the early morning of Oct. 10.
Police said Lewis opened fire on Seiber and Rodriguez in an attack after they responded to the neighborhood for a 911 call about a person with a gun. Lewis then retreated into the shadowy alley behind the property, triggering a standoff with a swarm of responding officers before surrendering to a SWAT unit.
He committed a series of gun crimes during those moments, Metcalf said in announcing the federal charges.
Lewis is charged with using a firearm in relation to a crime, illegally possessing a firearm, possessing a stolen firearm and ammunition, theft of a firearm, and interference with interstate commerce by robbery, he said. The maximum penalty for those crimes is life in prison, the same maximum that the state charges carry.
Immediately after opening fire, federal prosecutors said, Lewis robbed Rodriguez of his Glock model 17 service weapon and then used an illegal 9mm semiautomatic “ghost gun” to continue firing. Lewis also wielded a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun during the encounter, Metcalf said.
Federal prosecutors began communicating with Philadelphia police about the prospect of opening their own case against Lewis shortly after Seiber’s death, according to Metcalf, who attended the officer’s Center City funeral on Tuesday.
Metcalf said that the federal case was “completely separate and distinct” from Krasner’s ongoing murder prosecution and that his office had notified the district attorney’s office before bringing the charges.
Krasner said Thursday he welcomed the federal charges.
This would not be the first time federal authorities have opened cases simultaneously with state-level prosecutors in such cases, Metcalf said, adding that his prosecutors would remain in “close contact” with Krasner’s office as the cases progress.
“The objective here is not to duplicate a state criminal proceeding,” Metcalf said. “The idea is to complement it.”
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.
