Man Sentenced for Suborning Perjury in Federal Court

FLINT -Omar R. Pouncy, 39, of Flint, was sentenced on July 14, 2026, to five years in federal prison for suborning perjury, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of Federal Bureau of Investigation's Detroit Field Office.

U.S. District Court Judge F. Kay Behm imposed sentence on Pouncy following his guilty plea to suborning perjury. Pouncy pleaded guilty after a trial and while the jury was deliberating. Judge Behm ordered Pouncy's sentence to be served consecutively to his state sentences for armed robbery and carjacking. Pouncy's earliest release date for his state sentences is February 2055, and Pouncy's state sentences could run until December 2074. Pouncy will serve his federal sentence after his state sentences. Judge Behm also ordered Pouncy to pay a $50,000 fine.

According to court documents and the testimony and evidence elicited at trial, Pouncy was convicted of committing multiple carjackings and armed robberies in Genesee County in 2005. The trial court sentenced Pouncy to a lengthy term of incarceration. After exhausting all of his appeals in state court, Pouncy filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 2013. During the federal habeas proceedings, Pouncy alleged, among other things, that he was innocent of the carjackings for which he had been convicted, and that another man, Jaakawa McGruder, had committed the carjackings instead of Pouncy.

On May 22, 2018, the U.S. District Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Pouncy's actual innocence claims. During the hearing, Jaakawa McGruder testified falsely that he, not Pouncy, committed the carjackings. During the hearing, McGruder also testified falsely that he had not been offered and was not receiving any money for his testimony or his presence at the hearing, when in fact, Pouncy paid McGruder $10,000 to testify. Pouncy's scheme was uncovered when employees of the Michigan Department of Corrections found, and later searched, two cell phones that Pouncy was using from inside prison. Text messages on the phones revealed that Pouncy coached McGruder on how to testify, providing him with details of the carjackings and robberies that only the perpetrator would know. The text messages also revealed Pouncy's directives to others to ensure payment to McGruder in order to secure his testimony in the habeas proceeding.

McGruder and another person who assisted Pouncy in his scheme were previously convicted for their roles.

"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. "I am grateful for the exceptional work of our FBI Flint Resident Agency and the critical partnership of the Michigan Attorney General's Office and Michigan Department of Corrections in helping expose this conspiracy. I also want to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for its work in prosecuting this case and recognize the Genesee County Sheriff's Office for their assistance throughout the trial. Let this sentence serve as a warning to those who attempt to undermine our justice system: the FBI and our partners will pursue the truth, protect the integrity of our courts, and hold you accountable."

This investigation was conducted by special agents of the FBI's Flint Resident Agency.