Damien Hammonds, Cocaine Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2011

A Harrisburg man is facing a minimum of 20 years and up to life in prison after being convicted of federal drug trafficking charges, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Damien Hammonds, 28, of Harrisburg, was found guilty by a jury in United States District Court in Harrisburg following a weeklong trial before U.S. District Judge Christopher C. Conner on charges of unlawfully distributing cocaine base, also known as crack, as well as cocaine hydrochloride.

The jury also determined that the amount of crack cocaine involved was at least 280 grams plus at least half a kilogram of cocaine hydrochloride.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, the evidence presented in court showed that Hammonds sold crack cocaine and supplied co-conspirator Michael Hansley, also of Harrisburg, with multiple ounces of cocaine hydrochloride on a weekly basis.

Hansley, who previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing on May 23, 2013, would convert the cocaine hydrochloride into crack and distribute it through individuals working with and for him.

In June 2010, Hammonds was stopped at the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and found to have approximately $22,000 in U.S. currency hidden on his person and in his luggage.

Further investigation revealed that Hammonds was in Puerto Rico to purchase a kilogram of cocaine from a source of supply located there.

The evidence also showed that in April 2011, Hammonds sold two ounces of crack cocaine to an individual who was assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Dauphin County Drug Task Force.

The sale was under surveillance by the agencies and was subject to both audio and video recording.

Hammonds was indicted in May 2011, and his sentencing date has not been scheduled.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Harrisburg Resident Office, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, and the Dauphin County Drug Task Force.

Assistant United States Attorney William A. Behe prosecuted the case for the United States.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/harrisburg-man-convicted-federal-drug-trafficking-charges