The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Devonte Lemon Hammonds on Friday pleaded guilty to counts that included defrauding the memorial fund of the late Huntsville Police Department Officer Billy Fred Clardy, III.

Clardy was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2019 while participating in an anti-narcotics operation.

Following his death, a memorial fund was established to collect contributions and provide aid to his family.

According to the plea agreement, 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.

He also pleaded guilty to fraud on customers of the U.S. Postal Service. Hammonds, 27, reportedly used the USPS website to reroute mail from numerous customers to addresses in Birmingham that he could access, used the rerouted mail to obtain personal identifying information of those customers, and used that information to pay bills, make purchases, and open new accounts.

Between the two counts, Hammonds faces up to 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona; U.S. Postal Inspector In Charge, Houston Division, Adrian Gonzalez; and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. made the announcement jointly.

This was the second tragic, line of duty loss for the Clardy family. Huntsville PD Officer Billy Fred Clardy, Jr. was killed May 3, 1978 in an on-duty car accident while traveling to meet another officer.

The Alabama House of Representatives this month passed a bill named in Clardy III’s honor; that legislation is now pending before the Senate.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn