Des Moines sex-trafficking victim Pieper Lewis will get a third chance ― but with a manslaughter conviction on her record and a lengthy prison sentence assured if she slips up again.
Her attorneys had a clear theme they wanted their witnesses to hammer home: that incarceration treats trafficking victims much like their traffickers, so prison would not be a good place to send Lewis.
In a Wednesday hearing, Polk County Judge David M. Porter revoked a September deferred judgment on the felony charge and another of willful injury and sentenced Lewis, 18, to 20 years behind bars. But he then suspended the sentence and placed her once again on five years' probation, as he had previously, to be served at a location yet to be determined.
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