Tipster lies about witnessing mail carrier robbery to put his enemy in prison, feds say
With hopes of claiming a $50,000 reward and putting his “enemy” in prison, an Indiana man lied about witnessing the robbery of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, authorities said.
Now the 25-year-old Indianapolis man has been sentenced to prison, according to an Oct. 10 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
His defense attorney declined to provide a comment to McClatchy News on Oct. 11.
Authorities said the letter carrier was robbed April 1, 2022, while delivering mail on an Indianapolis street. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service “immediately” announced a $50,000 reward for anyone who had information that led to an arrest and conviction.
Several days after the robbery, prosecutors said the man called the tip line and said he witnessed the crime.
Then, while under oath in an interview with federal agents, he said he saw a man “hold a tan knife or gun to the letter carrier, take something from him and knock him down,” according to the release.
He also provided images that showed him communicating with the man via Facebook Messenger, officials said. The images appeared to show a suspect admit he committed the robbery.
“But this was all a lie,” prosecutors said.
The Indianapolis man had created a fake Facebook account for the wrong suspect because he didn’t like the man, according to the release.
‘Wild goose chase’
Following the tipster’s report, Postal Inspectors spent hours interviewing him and investigating his claims, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“This was a tremendous waste of their time,” prosecutors said. “All of (his) statements were lies. He did not provide a single useful fact to investigators. Instead, he sent them on a wild goose chase in hopes of getting $50,000.”
He also hoped to put his sister’s ex in prison because he believed the man “mistreated his sister when they were in a relationship,” authorities said.
“If successful, (his) actions would have placed an innocent man in prison for a crime he didn’t commit,” prosecutors said.
The actual suspect had not been identified as of Sept. 25. Investigators said the man “thwarted” the investigation, as the “best chance of identifying the robber is within the first few weeks of the crime.”
The man has been sentenced to six months in federal prison, authorities said, after he pleaded guilty to making a false statement or representation in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the U.S. government.
“Greed and a petty personal beef do not entitle someone to lie and fabricate evidence in a federal investigation,” Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in the release. “(His) attempt to frame an innocent person for a violent crime and collect the reward money was despicable.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Tipster lies about witnessing mail carrier robbery to put his enemy in prison, feds say."