Man Accused Of Defrauding Police Officer Memorial Fund Sentenced

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A man accused of defrauding a Huntsville police officer's memorial fund has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.

Devonte Lemond Hammonds pleaded guilty in February to charges of access device fraud and wire fraud. Court reports say Hammonds devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain money from the Billy Clardy Memorial Fund. Clardy was a Huntsville Police officer killed in the line of duty in 2019.

After Clardy’s death, a memorial fund was established to collect contributions and provide aid to his family. Hammonds used the identity of another person to open a bank account and transfer funds from the Billy Clardy Memorial Fund bank account to the fictitious account for his own use, records show.

Hammonds also used the U.S. Postal Service website to fraudulently reroute mail from numerous U.S. Postal Service customers to addresses in Birmingham that he could access. He rerouted the mail to obtain more personal identifying information of those customers, and used that information to pay bills, make purchases and open new accounts.

“Today’s sentencing revealed that what Devonte Hammonds thought was an easy fraud scheme turned out to be an even easier trip to federal prison,” Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, Houston Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service said. “His mail fraud scheme was insidious, and it is hoped that justice being served today will help bring closure for those he affected.”