James R. Lewis (May 3, 1936 – October 9, 2020) was an American evangelist, businessman and former Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, who was removed from office after being convicted of perjury.
He was elected to represent the newly created 53rd Assembly District (portions of Dodge, Fond du Lac, and Washington counties) in 1972 with 9341 votes, to 7939 for Democrat Lehman Eichstadt.
[6] Lewis became part of a group who attempted to persuade laser scientist Myron Muckerheide (formerly with NASA) to create a laser gun "designed to blind people", and to sell it to Guatemalan colonel Federico Fuentes in order to raise funds to build a laetrile factory in South America[7][8] (Lewis had been a prominent Wisconsin advocate for the legalization and manufacture of laetrile).
Muckerheide contacted the FBI, the laser was never built, and in 1979 Lewis pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the scheme.
"[10] Fellow Republican Governor Lee Dreyfus declined to request a presidential pardon for Lewis, although he was quoted as saying the six-month sentence was too harsh.