Thirty-year-old Michael Wayne Lewis II of Front Royal has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his role in the July 2007 robbery of the Trading Post, the gun store on U. S. Route 211 in Washington. Forty handguns were taken in the theft. Rappahannock County Sheriff Connie Smith, who was instrumental in the investigation of the crime, was disappointed in the length of Lewis’ sentence. Said the Sheriff, "I felt that he should have gotten more time. The guns that he stole were used in other robberies, armed robberies. They were used…there was a police officer shot with one that we are aware. The officer shot was in Maryland, and critically injured. It was my understanding that (Lewis) was going to get more time." Some of the guns were transported across state lines, said the Sheriff. Some, but not all of the weapons have been recovered. One woman, Rebecca Smith, Lewis’ sister, was arrested in Tennessee and charged as an accomplice in the robbery. Rebecca Smith, 32, pleaded guilty here in Rappahannock County and has since been released.

-Compiled by Jed Duvall