INDIANAPOLIS — Carl Davis, 25, was sentenced to six months in federal prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement or representation to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

According to court documents on April 1, 2022, a letter carrier for the postal office was robbed near the 1200 block of South Reisner Street in Indianapolis. Immediately following the robbery the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced a $50,000 reward for anyone who provided information leading to the suspect’s arrest and conviction.

On April 7, 2022, Davis called the tip line claiming he witnessed the robbery. In an interview under oath, Davis said he witnessed the man hold a knife or gun to the letter carrier, take something from him and knock him down.

Davis added that he and the man communicated through Facebook messenger. During the conversation, the man reportedly admitted to robbing the letter carrier. Davis then showed investigators images of the reported conversation.

Tuesday’s release stated the statements provided were lies. Postal inspectors discovered the Facebook account was created by Davis to set the man up. Davis later admitted he didn’t like the man for personal reasons and lied in hopes of collecting the $50,000 reward.

The other person 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.”

The judge also ordered Davis to be supervised on probation for 18 months following his release from federal prison.