A judge Thursday refused to give a Lincoln man probation in a steroids distribution case and instead sentenced him to 1 to 2 years in prison. Lancaster County District Judge John A. Colborn said Levi Lewis had committed a “very serious offense.

“I can not ignore the surrounding facts of this offense,” the judge said. The sentence elicited a dramatic response from Lewis, 24, who tearfully begged the judge to reconsider. “Please,” a weeping Lewis said. “Can I get work release? I’ve got a wife to take care.”

Lewis, standing at the defense table, continued to implore Colborn as the judge left the courtroom through a door behind the bench.

“Please, your honor,” he said, as his wife, parents and sister looked on from the gallery. “I promise. I just don’t want to get away from my wife.”

Lewis’ attorney, Art Langvardt of Hastings, in an interview after the sentencing said he was stunned by the judge’s decision.

Langvardt had asked Colborn to sentence Lewis to probation.

“That’s a terrible shock,” a clearly angered Langvardt said. “He (Lewis) was a bodybuilder, that’s all … That (Lewis’s offense) is pretty much mandatory probation in federal court.”

Authorities arrested Lewis and two other men last year on charges they had conspired to distribute steroids in the Lincoln area.

Investigators said the men’s customers may have included area college athletes, but no other arrests have been made.

Lewis pled no contest last month to an reduced charge of attempting to distribute the drug, purchased from a New York dealer.

Prosecutions are still pending against co-defendants Kenneth Thompson, 23, and Chad Case, 30.

Vladimir Ribartchouk of New York City pled no contest last month to charges he sent the drugs to Lincoln. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Colborn Dec. 8.

At the sentencing Thursday, Langvardt urged the judge to impose probation on his client. The attorney said Lewis only purchased the drugs for himself and a few friends.

Also, he said, Lewis did not have a significant criminal history, was not addicted to drugs, was recently married and is gainfully employed.

“I can’t imagine who would be a better candidate for probation,” Langvardt said.

Colborn, in denying probation, said a lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of Lewis’s crime.

A disgusted Langvardt, in comments after the hearing, blamed the news media in part for Lewis’ sentence. He said investigators hyped the possible involvement of Nebraska football players, and the news media went along.

“I’m still waiting for all the football players that this case” is about, he said. “You (news media) played right into (prosecutors’) hands.”

Court documents list two current and 11 former Nebraska football players as potential witnesses. Former Nebraska kicker Sandro DeAngelis shared a dorm with Lewis in 2001 and 2002.

Reach Butch Mabin at 473-7234 or at bmabin@journalstar.com.