An Indianapolis man will be serving a 6-month sentence in federal prison for pleading guilty to making false statements in order to get a healthy sum of reward money.
According to court documents on April 1, 2022, a mail carrier with the USPS was robbed on South Reisner Street in Indianapolis. Immediately following the armed robbery, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced that it was offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who provided information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.
Less than a week later, 25-year-old Carl Davis called the top line and said that he had witnessed the crime. In an interview with USPIS agents, under oath, Davis stated that he witnessed a man named M.S. hold a tan knife or gun to the letter carrier, take something from him, and knock him down.
Further, Davis stated that he and M.S. communicated through Facebook Messenger. During this conversation, M.S. purportedly admitted to robbing the letter carrier. Davis provided investigators with images showing the purported conversation between him and M.S.
Investigators were able to determine all this was a fabrication and lies. Postal Inspectors discovered the M.S. Facebook account was completely made up and created by Davis. Davis would admit that he created the account in the hopes of getting M.S. incarcerated because he disliked him and because he wanted to collect the $50,000 reward. The man referred to as M.S. did not commit the robbery.
“Greed and a petty personal beef do not entitle someone to lie and fabricate evidence in a federal investigation. The defendant’s attempt to frame an innocent person for a violent crime and collect the reward money was despicable,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “The prison sentence imposed here demonstrates that serious crimes like this carry serious consequences. I commend the work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to quickly debunk the defendant’s lies and ensure that he is held accountable.”
Davis will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 18 months following his release from federal prison.
