>for lying..
I think it's fair to say what he did was much worse than lying. He literally falsified evidence, and his only defense is he did not 'knowingly' do it.
>The U.S. government takes tampering with evidence very seriously. A person who is convicted of the crime under federal law may face a prison sentence of not more than 20 years, a fine, or both. (18 U.S.C. § 1519.)
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Tampering-with-evidence.htm