Maryland Man Sentenced for Fabricating Evidence in Federal Investigation

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – John Austin Perkins, III, 45, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for lying to federal agents in the hopes of early parole from a sentence he was serving for another crime.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Perkins was serving time for a parole violation in Maryland when he devised a scheme to obtain early release. He made false claims to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and forged three letters in which he impersonated his former cellmate who had been indicted on firearms charges.  In the letters (and through his statements), the defendant perpetuated a hoax claiming his former cellmate planned to escape from prison and murder an ATF agent. The defendant engaged in this scheme to garner favor with federal agents and possibly obtain early release from prison. Perkins has prior convictions for theft, drug trafficking and battery.

Perkins will serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.   

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Marshals Service investigated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eleanor Hurney prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.