A grand jury on Tuesday indicted suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis on two new criminal charges.

Lewis was charged with perjury and misconduct in office, according to documents obtained from the Greenville County Clerk of Court.

The perjury charge is related to an affidavit Lewis signed in January 2017. He said a background check was performed on Derrick L. Pendergrass, but Lewis knew a complete background investigation was not performed as required by law, according to an indictment.

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Pendergrass was a captain on the command staff with the Sheriff's Office under Lewis. He was not recommissioned when Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown stepped in as interim after Lewis was suspended, according to Lt. Ryan Flood, spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office.

The indictment for the misconduct charge claims Lewis committed the crime of misconduct of a public office on or about Jan. 3, 2017, through Feb. 13, 2018, "by performing acts of official misconduct, habitual negligence, corruption, fraud, or oppression."

Lewis was elected sheriff in November 2016. He was sworn into office on Jan. 2, 2017.

In a statement released Tuesday, 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett said he had no further comment about the substance of the charges.

"It is important to remember that these indictments are merely allegations and Mr. Lewis is presumed innocent until his guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law," the statement said.

Reached by email, Lewis' lawyer, Rauch Wise said "I have not seen the indictment so I do not know specifically what they are alleging."

Brackett told The Greenville News onWednesday morning that a new arraignment hearing will be scheduled for Lewis to appear before a judge to be formally arraigned on his new charges. He said he does not expect Lewis to go back to the detention center for a new bond hearing since he was already released on a personal recognizance bond when he was first charged.

"At the last bond, we consented to a recognizance bond and we’re not changing the position on that so the new indictments will be folded in and he’ll accept them and move on," Brackett said.

A statement released by Gov. Henry McMaster's office Tuesday said the new indictments will have no effect on Lewis's status since the governor has already suspended Lewis.

McMaster "strongly" believes Lewis should "voluntarily step down from office and allow the people of Greenville County to elect its new sheriff," the statement said.

Indictments handed down Tuesday are in addition to indictments of misconduct in office and obstruction of justice filed against Lewis in April 2018 during an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division.

Lewis had requested the investigation after a former subordinate accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment in August 2017 in a now-deleted blog post.

In October 2017, Savanah Nabors, the former assistant, filed a civil lawsuit alleging a sexual assault stemming from a work trip to Charlotte in March 2017. Lewis maintained that the extramarital encounter was consensual. A settlement for that lawsuit was reached in October.

Both parties signed a confidentiality agreement so neither Nabors nor Lewis are able to comment on the details of the settlement, Kyle White, an attorney representing Nabors, said in October.

A group of attorneys including Wally Fayssoux, Jr. and Beattie Ashmore had been representing Lewis pro bono against those charges. In December 2018, they withdrew as his counsel after a resolution couldn't be reached ahead of a trial.

In January 2019, with Wise as his attorney, Lewis asked the court to dismiss the criminal charges from April 2018. Those charges are pending, and each carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The criminal investigation is ongoing, Brackett said. He added that it's possible more charges could be forthcoming.

Daniel J. Gross contributed.

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