Lewis Reed Really Digs the Self-Improvement Options in Prison

Serving time for bribery, the former aldermanic president has learned welding and drives newly released inmates to the airport

Feb 1, 2024 at 4:06 pm

Lewis Reed, former president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. DANNY WICENTOWSKI

Lewis Reed, former president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, has been making the most of his time in federal prison, picking up new handyman skills and even driving newly released inmates around Arkansas and Tennessee in a prison-issue vehicle.

Reed, you may recall, was hit with a federal indictment in the summer of 2022 after taking very-well documented bribes from local businessman Mohammed Almuttan. He was sentenced to 45 months in prison in December 2022.

New court filings indicate that Reed has made the most of his first year in federal custody in Forrest City, Arkansas. The information about Reed's life behind bars was included as part of a filing made today by his attorney, requesting that the judge in his case reduce Reed's sentence under new federal sentencing guidelines. The new guidelines allow for more leniency for first-time offenders and can apply to cases retroactively.

The filings made by Reed's attorney state that the former politician "has volunteered in multiple departments, enrolled in educational classes, and participated in many self-improvement activities." He's learned to weld, tutored other inmates in math and totally revamped the filing system for work orders and maintenance requests at the facility.

He's also taken a number of correspondence courses and has earned the trust of prison administrators, the filing states, who allow him to drive other newly-released inmates to airports, bus stations and halfway houses around Arkansas. He even makes occasional excursions to Memphis, about 45 minutes from the prison.

This job of senior town driver is only granted to the most-trusted inmates in the federal system, the court filing says.

The filing goes on to say that, en route, Reed advises people getting out of prison about job training programs, applying for health insurance and counseling services. He also talks with them about resources for starting small businesses.

"[Reed] often reminds the other inmate that although they have been incarcerated, what will determine their future is not the felony charge but what they do moving forward," the filing says.

He is asking his sentence be reduced from 45 months to 30 months.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark has yet to rule on the matter.