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Report: Lewis seen in X-rated video
Posted: Monday May 01, 2000 09:06 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- NFL star Ray Lewis, charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of two men after the Super Bowl, appears with a co-defendant in a sexually explicit mail-order video, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday. The video shows Lewis and Joseph Sweeting eagerly watching party guests perform sex acts for money. The images could make it difficult for Lewis' lawyers to continue their defense strategy, which has been to portray the Baltimore Ravens linebacker as a devoted family man who hardly knows Sweeting and the other co-defendant, Reginald Oakley. The videotape, which is available by mail order, is called "Luke's Freak Show: Cancun 1999" and was produced at a party thrown in the Mexican resort town by rap musician Luther Campbell. In it, Lewis enters with Sweeting and dances shirtless between two scantily dressed and gyrating women. Campbell, leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he is friends with Lewis and Sweeting, a fledgling music producer and strip club promoter from Miami. The three met when Lewis was playing with the University of Miami Hurricanes. Campbell, who wears Lewis' No. 52 Ravens jersey while promoting videos and CDs on his Web site, called Sweeting "a good friend of Ray's." Oakley, the other co-defendant, does not appear in the video, which has not been mentioned by either side of the case. Sweeting has a long criminal history, including convictions for grand theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The charges stem from the mid-1980s. "Joe had some problems but that's all long ago," his brother Anthony said. "Some of that is 15 years ago, half his life." Oakley also has a significant criminal past, with about 25 criminal counts against him between 1985 and 1992. Charges include assault, embezzlement, possession of a stolen vehicle, and assault on a police officer. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oakley met Lewis while living in the home of model and former U.S. League basketball player Garfield Yuille. At the time of the stabbings, Oakley was a member of Lewis' limousine party. A would-be record and film producer, Oakley was reportedly trying to make contacts with celebrities attending the Super Bowl. Lewis, Sweeting and Oakley are accused of murdering Jacinth Baker, 21, and Richard Lollar, 24, during a street fight in the Buckhead entertainment district in Atlanta. Motions in the case are scheduled for Monday and the trial is to begin May 15.
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