Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 4, 2015 – Laquanda Boyce, age 33, of Nashville pleaded guilty on September 4, 2015, to conspiring with Michael Calloway aka Oso, 20, also of Nashville, to tamper with a witness, announced United States Attorney David Rivera. Boyce and Calloway were indicted in May of this year after trying to pay a witness to change his testimony.

“Witness tampering, whether by bribery as in this case, or through violence as in other cases, are very serious offenses,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “These crimes strike at the heart of our criminal justice system, which depends upon truthful testimony of the witnesses.” As shown by this case, anyone who engages in such conduct can be subjected to substantially more prison time than the original offense.”

According to the statement of facts, on the morning of April 12, 2015, Boyce and Calloway were assaulting a woman at the J.C. Napier housing development when another person intervened. The witness tried to protect the woman as Boyce and Calloway continued the assault and cut hair from her head. Later in the afternoon, Boyce and Calloway were walking together through the housing development and Calloway was carrying a gun in his hand. 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. As part of the plan, Boyce coordinated with others to arrange the payments- $600 to be paid after providing the false testimony and $600 to be paid upon Calloway’s release from jail. U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell scheduled Boyce’s sentencing for January 4, 2016.

The original charge against Calloway of being a felon in possession of ammunition carried a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. The additional witness tampering charges carry up to twenty years in prison for each charge. Calloway is set for trial on October 6, 2015, and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

These cases were investigated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Gang Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy.

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