A New Marshfield man already indicted for tampering with evidence related to a fatal shootout in February will face additional tampering and perjury charges for that crime.
John Perry II, 23, pled not guilty during his arraignment last Thursday to a second indictment charging him with evidence tampering and perjury, according to court documents. He was already under indictment for related evidence-tampering charges.
Perry allegedly helped Billy Osborne, also of New Marshfield, defend his trailer against four alleged robbers in February, prosecutors have said, adding that the attempted robbery turned into a shootout that caught Donnie Putnam in the crossfire and killed him.
Police first charged Perry with evidence tampering because he allegedly fled the scene of the shootout and took with him at least one pistol used during the robbery.
They have filed additional charges because though Perry turned in a gun when he surrendered to police six weeks later, it was not the one he allegedly used during the shootout. That pistol - which experts have testified could be the murder weapon - is still missing.
Prosecutors have also charged Perry with perjury, saying he lied to police at the end of May while under oath, according to the indictment. They have not said what Perry lied about or how it relates to the investigation.
Perry pled not guilty to the first evidence tampering charge when he was arraigned in April. He will stand trial for that charge this summer with his final pretrial Wednesday. His trial for the additional charges is scheduled to begin September 1.
Both tampering with evidence and perjury are third-degree felonies that carry prison sentences between one and five years and fines up to $10,000.
Perry faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges, said Keller Blackburn, assistant Athens County prosecutor.
Though the two indictments are currently separate cases and the prosecutor's office has not made a final decision about whether to request that they be consolidated, it is likely that they will be merged in the interest of efficiency and judicial economy, Blackburn said.
In February, police arrested and charged Phillip Boler, Hamda Jama, Abdifatah Abdi and Mohat Osman for attempting to rob Osborne and provoking the shootout that killed Putnam. Boler was convicted of both aggravated robbery and murder and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.
Trials of the other three, who face similar robbery and murder charges, are scheduled to start later this year.
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Frank Thomas
