Michael Lyon pleads guilty to four felony counts

District Attorney Jan Scully recently announced that Michael Lyon pled guilty to four felony counts of surreptitious recording of confidential communications, arising out of his sexual encounters with four separate women.

The investigation into the Lyon matter was begun based on disclosures and computer materials provided to authorities by an ex-girlfriend of Lyon. The original court complaint (filed November 10, 2010) charged offenses involving three different victims, and offenses which occurred in 2008 and 2009. At today’s court proceeding, the District Attorney filed an amended complaint with a previously uncharged incident, involving a fourth woman, which took place on September 13, 2010.

The new count is based on evidence found in computer equipment seized with a search warrant at the time of Lyon’s arrest in November. The newly charged offense occurred approximately one month after public disclosure that the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department had begun a joint investigation into Lyon’s possible violation of state law. In court today, Lyon pled guilty to one count for each of the four victims.

Following the pleas, Lyon was sentenced by the Honorable Gary Ransom to a suspended state prison sentence of two years and placed on probation with various conditions including a term of one year in county jail.

The D.A.’s and Sheriff’s investigation began after federal authorities completed an investigation into possible violations of federal law. The federal investigation was closed without filing any charges.