INDIANAPOLIS - Carl Davis, 25, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has been sentenced to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement or representation in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the government of the United States.According to court documents, on April 1, 2022, a letter carrier with the United States Post Office was robbed in the 1200 block of 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.On April 7, 2022, Carl Davis called the tip line and claimed that he witnessed the robbery. 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.

Man with his hand covering his eyes, red tape in an X on this mouth, and the words "Don't Lie" written on either side of his nose; image by Taras Chernus, via Unsplash.com.

These statements were lies. Postal Inspectors discovered that the M.S. Facebook account—the one in which M.S. allegedly admitted to the robbery—was created by the Davis to set M.S. up. Davis admitted that he disliked M.S. for personal reasons and lied in hopes of getting M.S. incarcerated and collecting the $50,000 reward. M.S. did not commit the armed 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.”This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge, Matthew P. Brookman. Judge Brookman also ordered that Davis be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 18 months following his release from federal prison.U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Eakman, who prosecuted this case.