Harrisburg Man Convicted Of Federal Drug Trafficking Charges

     The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Harrisburg man faces at least 20 years and up to life imprisonment after his conviction last week on federal drug trafficking charges.

    According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Damien Hammonds, age 28, of Harrisburg, was convicted 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 held that the amount of crack cocaine involved was at least 280 grams plus at least half a kilogram of cocaine hydrochloride.

    The evidence showed that Hammonds sold crack cocaine and also supplied co-conspirator Michael Hansley, also of Harrisburg, with multiple ounces of cocaine hydrochloride on a weekly basis which Hansley would convert into crack and then distribute through individuals working with and for him.

     Hansley previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing on May 23, 2013.

     Hammonds was stopped at the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico in June 2010 and found to have approximately $22,000 in U.S. currency hidden on his person and in his luggage. 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. That sale was under surveillance by those agencies and was subject to both audio and video recording.  

     Hammonds was indicted in May 2011. A 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.