A Charleston man who hired lawyer-legislator Marvin Pendarvis to represent him in an alleged unlawful arrest case is now suing Pendarvis, alleging that the attorney forged his signature and settled the case against his wishes.
Adrian Lewis hired Pendarvis to sue the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Department in 2021 after Lewis said that he was arrested unlawfully during a child custody dispute. Pendarvis purportedly told Lewis his case could be worth more than a quarter of a million dollars.
When mediation between Lewis and the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Department failed in April 2023, the case was set for trial in November 2023, Instead, the suit alleges, Pendarvis settled the case for $10,000 in January 2024 and forged Lewis’s name on the final documents.
The suit goes on to allege that Pendarvis offered Lewis $50,000 in cash to keep Lewis from suing him. Lewis declined and retained Cup of Justice co-host Eric Bland and his law partners, Ronnie Richter and Scott Mongillo, to represent him in his suit against Pendarvis.
You can read all of the latest filings here, and hear Eric, Mandy, and Liz discuss the case on Cup of Justice Episode 77.
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Contact Beth Braden
Beth Braden
Beth Braden is an award-winning investigative journalist who cut her reporting teeth in the hills and hollows of East Tennessee. She joined the LUNASHARK® Media team in 2023 as a researcher and journalist who handles FOIA requests, wading through and analyzing public records, and connecting with sources. She also provides a monthly update for premium members called Soundbites, which is a monthly review of everything happening at LUNASHARK®, and she occasionally writes and records for True Sunlight. Beth has her own solo podcast called Time of Death, which explores the 1992 homicide of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam in East Tennessee.
Prior to joining the team, Beth’s newspaper work had taken her into deep-dive stories about faith-based serpent handling and Appalachian coal mining, as well as data journalism work to analyze euthanasia drug irregularities at an animal shelter, uncover the most dangerous intersections on her beat, and see whether or not the local judge’s rulings passed muster when cases were appealed to the state appellate court. And of course, she’s been to her fair share of court hearings, city council meetings, and board of education work sessions.
In addition to her newspaper experience, her byline appears on HGTV.com, nytimes.com, and other internationally known websites.
In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, rock climbing, strange museums, and good cups of coffee.
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