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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.