A Houston custom home builder has been sentenced to over four years behind bars for defrauding clients and siphoning construction funds for personal use, according to a recent announcement by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Brett Michael Detamore, the 40-year-old proprietor of Detamore Development LLC, was convicted of wire fraud and will be trading his blueprint for a prison jumpsuit as he faces 51 months in federal prison, starting when he voluntarily surrenders to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, that as of now is yet to be determined. Detamore had previously pled guilty to the charge on August 23, 2024, now he is also saddled with a $2.3 million restitution bill, money which he's obliged to pay back to the more than 10 victims of his scheme, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office's release.
The victims shared their tribulations as they witnessed Detamore abuse their trust, the devastation, not merely a loss of funds but a betrayal that transcended mere dollars and cents, painted a stark picture at the hearing led by U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks. Detamore's deceit involved fabricating invoices for building expenses and duping the banks into dispersing funds from construction loans directly into his pockets, rather than the homes these families were building.
Investigative efforts by the FBI with a help from the West University Police Department unraveled Detamore's fraudulent activities, showcasing a gross misuse of over $1.5 million earmarked for erecting homes, crafting dreams into reality—instead, Detamore chose his reality, cushioned by the hard-earned investments of others, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Lansden and Suzanne Elmilady, who prosecuted the case, detailed the exhaustive investigation that led to the homebuilder's downfall.
