RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) – A man convicted in Forsyth County and sentenced to life for first-degree rape won’t be getting out of prison like several other inmates have recently.

The case for parole for Lemuel L. Newell, convicted on Oct. 29, 1992, in Forsyth County Superior Court, had been scheduled to be considered by the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission as one in a series of releases for persons sentenced for crimes committed before Oct. 1, 1994.

Lemuel Newell (NC DOC)

But the commission on Monday said that review was suspended and the bid for parole under the commission’s Mutual Agreement Parole Program had been denied.

There was no explanation of why Newell’s case was denied, but MAPP is a “scholastic and vocational program” that is a 3-way agreement among the commission, the Division of Prisons and the offender that requires an inmate to display a desire to improve educational and training programs and a self-improvement process. There is a 3-year walk-up to release that, the MAPP website states, requires the inmate:

  • To be in medium or minimum custody.
  • Not to be subject to a detainer or pending court action that could result in further confinement.
  • To be infraction-free for a period of 90 days before being recommended.

Newell, who most recently has been housed at the Carteret Correctional Center, has 11 infractions on his record, but none of them posted since 2014. There were a couple over a 16-year period that dealt with substance and weapons possessions, but most were for disobeying orders and violating basic rules.

There have been about 13 inmates from the Piedmont Triad to be designated for or granted parole under pre-1994 programs in the past six months. Just last week, a man who helped kill his cousin’s wife and a rapist imprisoned since he was 16 were scheduled for release.

Newell, now 58, was sentenced to life following charges of rape from July 13, 1991. A Google search uncovered no published details about his conviction on that charge.

He had a suspended sentence in 1989 for the unauthorized use of a motor conveyance (a misdemeanor) and had served 38 months of an 8-year sentence after his conviction in 1984 – at age 20 – of second-degree rape and non-support (a misdemeanor).   

If you have questions about this release, the commission will accept them if you call 919-716-3010.