A 24-year-old man who IS already serving time in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for various crimes and who avoided a murder charge through a plea deal last week in Sebastian County Circuit Court saw more time added to his prison sentence in court proceedings Wednesday in Fort smith.
Branford Antwan Lewis, who police say was complicit in the murder of Herbert Brown in July of 2021, saw 18 1/2 years added to his current prison sentences for charges stemming from three counts of battery in the first degree on a police officer and two counts of furnishing a prohibited item. He also was sentenced as a habitual offender.
Already in custody at the Brickeys unit of the ADC in Brickeys, Arkansas, Lewis saw the 18 1/2 years added concurrently to his present sentence in the system.
Lewis has been sentenced to decades of prison time, but all of the sentences are set to run concurrently. The additional time that he received for the charges he pled to on Wednesday, and the added-on time for being an additional offender, are all set to run concurrently.
Lewis was initally arrested in connection with the death of Herbert Brown, who was found on July 9th 2021 in a gray 2007 Chevy Impala parked at 923 Raleigh Street in Fort Smith. Witnesses at the scene told the responding officer they spotted a man wearing a black shirt and black pants running from the area of the shots.
After speaking with other witnesses at the scene, officers learned that the description given by the witness matched what other witnesses said Lewis had been wearing that night. Those witnesses also told police that Lewis was "waving a gun".
Lewis was also connected with the crime when he was seen on video surveillance runni9ng to a fast food restaurant a few blocks from the murder scene a short time after the shots were fired.
Lewis took a plea deal last week to avoid the Murder in the First Degree charge. He was senetenced to fifteen years last week for firearm charges and for being a habitual offender.
