Well, there are facts and there's fiction
Facts
Richard Lewis exposed more about Riot/LoL submods relationship than they were comfortable with.
LoL mods have certainly built a questionable relationship with Riot employees and the company itself. This hurts the sub quality, as a result.
Richard Lewis is a dick, but he's not lying. His pictures lack context, but honestly, i fail to see a context where these actions are acceptable.
To return to my previous point, the fact that he's a dick is irrelevant to the case. He should be judged separately for that. Him being a dick doesn't absolve /r/leagueoflegends mods, in any way, shape or form.
His ban was justified.
The sitewide ban and witch-hunt that followed, aren't.
Fiction
No, Riot doesn't control Reddit.
Yes, admins have turned a blind eye, but they seem to have looked on the case and judged it fairly. This should be done more often, instead of less. If it did, then Cyborgmatt's life would've been a lot easier, among other things.
Mods being close to Riot employees doesn't guarantee that Riot essentially moderates the sub. However, their moderating history should be looked at from a different lens and after doing that, it certainly brings up some questions...
There's no conspiracy around his case and i feel all that fuzz about his ban is more of a distraction from the subreddit case. It's certainly no coincidence that people who bring up the subject, often divert to his ban and the reasons for it, instead of arguing about the whole /r/leagueoflegends incident or his writing and his articles.
Also, his writing didn't suddently downgrade because he criticizes Riot more harshly. People who insist on that are really bitter.