Michael Calloway a/k/a Oso, 21, of Nashville, Tenn., was sentenced Friday to serve 15 years in prison, after previously pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition, conspiracy to tamper with a witness and attempting to obstruct justice, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
According to the statement of facts, on the morning of April 12, 2015, Calloway and Laquanda Boyce were assaulting a woman at the J.C. Napier housing development when another person intervened and tried to protect the woman being assaulted. Later in the afternoon, Calloway and Boyce returned with Calloway carrying a firearm. Upon seeing the witness again, Calloway fired eight or nine shots at him, striking him once in the leg. The gunshot victim was treated at Vanderbilt Hospital and subsequently identified Calloway as the shooter.
Calloway was arrested the following day and learned that he would likely face federal firearms charges. He and Boyce then devised a scheme to pay the witness $1200 in exchange for his refusal to testify or for testifying that he had mistakenly identified Calloway as the person who had shot him.
Calloway and Boyce were subsequently indicted on witness tampering and obstruction charges.
In imposing the fifteen year sentence, United States District Judge Todd Campbell remarked that the offenses were serious and “goes to the heart of the criminal justice system” and that the fifteen year sentence was warranted by the egregious nature of the crime.
Laquanda Boyce, 33, also of Nashville, pleaded guilty on September 4, 2015, to conspiracy to tamper with a witness and will be sentenced on February 25, 2016.
This case was investigated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy.