Omar R. Pouncy, 39, of Flint, was sentenced on July 14 to five years in federal prison for suborning perjury, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced. The sentencing took place before U.S. District Court Judge F. Kay Behm following Pouncy’s guilty plea after a trial and while the jury was deliberating.
Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit Field Office. Judge Behm ordered that Pouncy’s sentence be served consecutively to his state sentences for armed robbery and carjacking, with his earliest release date from state custody set for February 2055 and a possible maximum until December 2074. The court also imposed a $50,000 fine on Pouncy.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Pouncy had been convicted in Genesee County in 2005 for multiple carjackings and armed robberies and subsequently received a lengthy prison term. After exhausting appeals in state court, he filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2013, alleging innocence regarding the carjackings and claiming another man—Jaakawa McGruder—was responsible.
During an evidentiary hearing on May 22, 2018, regarding his actual innocence claims, McGruder testified falsely that he committed the carjackings instead of Pouncy and denied receiving payment or incentives for his testimony; however, evidence later showed that Pouncy paid McGruder $10,000 to testify as part of this scheme. Michigan Department of Corrections employees discovered two cell phones used by Pouncy inside prison containing text messages where he coached McGruder on testimony details related to the crimes and directed others to ensure payment was made.
McGruder and another individual who assisted were previously convicted for their roles in this conspiracy.
“Trying to buy your freedom with lies and fabricated testimony is a foolish attempt to pervert the integrity of our justice system. These deceptive efforts nearly put a violent offender back on our streets, and this sentence ensures he will face the consequences,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office.