FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY) – A Fayetteville businessman has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
Lewis Rhinehart entered the plea this afternoon in magistrate court, after the hearing was moved up from its originally scheduled time Friday morning. Lewis Rhinehart was identified as president of Secret Sandwich Society in Fayetteville in a 2025 filing with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office.
Newswatch briefly spoke with Rhinehart on his way into magistrate court. He declined to comment.
“Mr. Rhinehart entered a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor offensive of domestic battery, which is what he was charged with in a criminal complaint dating back a few months ago,” Jonathan Calhoun, a Fayette County assistant prosecuting attorney, said in a brief interview following the hearing. “He has now accepted full criminal responsibility for the charges.”
Newswatch obtained a copy of that criminal complaint. The complaint says that Rhinehart threw the alleged victim to the ground, dragged her by the hair around the house, and threw her down the stairs.
He was sentenced during today’s plea hearing.
“He was sentenced to 60 days in jail. That jail sentence was suspended. He will serve that sentence on GPS monitoring through the Fayette County Day Report Center. He will be subject to drug screens, as anyone through the day report center would be, and he will have to participate in domestic violence counseling,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun said these cases are often difficult to prosecute because they come down to one person’s word against another. He said the plea agreement, in which Rhinehart accepted criminal responsibility, was a result the office was pleased with.
“Any time that a victim of domestic violence can be vindicated and show that they do come forward, they will be heard and the offender will be held responsible,” Calhoun said. “We are satisfied with that result.”
Calhoun said domestic violence is taken very seriously in Fayette County and that prosecuting those cases is a priority for the office.
“[Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony] Ciliberti and the Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office takes it very seriously. One of our priorities is to always prosecute domestic violence cases,” Calhoun said. “That’s not to say, unfortunately, that all offenders are convicted, but we prosecute every domestic violence case to the best of our ability in this office.”
