A 55-year-old Texas man has been sentenced to more than 18 months in prison after pleading guilty Monday to stalking and harassing Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.
Michael Lewis, from Denton, Texas, was arrested in January at an Indianapolis hotel on a felony stalking charge after allegedly repeatedly sending threats and sexually violent messages to Clark via social media, according to court documents.
“This resolution ensures that the defendant is held accountable for his threatening actions, the fear he instilled, and the disruption he caused,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said, according to WTHR Ch. 13 in Indianapolis. “He will now spend the next two and a half years in the Department of Correction and the victim will be able to have peace of mind while focusing on what matters to her.”
Lewis, whose sentence includes credit for time served at the Marion County Adult Detention Center since his arrest, also was ordered by the judge to avoid any contact with Clark, to stay away from Fever or Indiana Pacers games and the teams’ properties, and to not use the internet during his sentence, according to WTHR.
Lewis, who prophesized during Monday’s courtroom proceedings that the end of the world was coming, also was recommended to get mental health treatment, according to WTHR.
“You can’t help yourself until you get help,” the judge told Lewis.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department first spoke to Lewis on Jan. 8 about his alleged messages to Clark on X from Dec. 16 through Jan. 2.
“Been driving around your house 3x a day,” Lewis messaged to Clark, according to court documents. “But don’t call the law just yet, the publc is allowed to drive by gainbridge..aka Caitlin’s Fieldhouse.”
“I’m getting tickets. I’m sitting behind the bench,” read another message.
“They said I was sending threatening texts..but the only though on my mind was….CAITLIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNN,” read another.
Other messages were sexually violent, according to court documents.
Clark, now 23, told police at the time that she feared for her safety — even before Lewis arrived in Indianapolis — and had even altered her appearance in public. She also told police that she never responded to any of Lewis’ messages or posts.
The FBI tracked the IP addresses of Lewis’ messages to a hotel in downtown Indianapolis as well as the Indianapolis Public Library. Indianapolis police then made a welfare check on Lewis, according to court documents, and he told officers that he was in “an imaginary relationship” with Clark and that he came to Indianapolis on vacation.
The messages to Clark continued after the initial visit by police.
In December, a 40-year-old man from Oregon pleaded guilty to stalking Paige Bueckers and was given a one-year suspended sentence and three years’ probation.
ESPN’s Katie Barnes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
