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Lewis Easton Cantwell

Pardoned January 6 defendant

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Lewis Easton Cantwell is a western North Carolina small-business owner, a Sylva man who built a shop, lost years to a federal case, came home and built another one. That last part is the whole story. He came home and went back to work. [FACT] HIS STORY Lewis Cantwell was a Sylva businessman, co-owner of the Sip Sum kava and tea bar on West Main Street, when his name landed in the January 6 docket. [FACT, The Sylva Herald and Smoky Mountain News.] After serving his sentence he did not disappear. He opened Moon and Root Apothecary, a kava bar in downtown Asheville, in 2026. [FACT, Cardinal Pine and Asheville Citizen Times reporting.] A man who serves tea for a living, in Jackson and Buncombe counties, North Carolina. In his sentencing filings Lewis Easton Cantwell told the court he had helped rescue a police officer that day and had cooperated with the January 6 committee. [THEIR ACCOUNT, reported by the Asheville Citizen Times; see the sentencing filings for the full argument.] THE LEGAL FIGHT The record, plainly. [FACT, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, case 1:21-cr-89.] Indicted February 5, 2021 on six counts. Arrested February 18, 2021 and released pending trial. Pleaded guilty March 24, 2022 to obstructing, impeding or interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Sentenced December 6, 2022 to five months of incarceration, 36 months of supervised release and $2,000 in restitution. He served that time before any clemency existed. JANUARY 20, 2025 On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued clemency covering the January 6 cases. [FACT] Lewis Cantwell had already finished his sentence. [FACT, per Cardinal Pine reporting that he served his sentence before the January 2025 pardons.] CASE RECORD Case number: 1:21-cr-89 Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Indicted: February 5, 2021 Arrested: February 18, 2021 Sentenced: December 6, 2022 DOJ docket page: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/cantwell-lewis-easton Sylva, Canton, Asheville. If you know the man behind the counter, add to this. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you — or your family — claiming it is free, forever.