Shannade Clermont Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for Felony Wire Fraud

Last July, Shannade Clermont—one half of the Instagram-famous Clermont Twins, was arrested on charges stemming from the allegation that she stole a deceased man’s credit card and transferred money from his bank account into her own. She later pled guilty to one felony account of wire fraud, and today, she was officially sentenced.

Clermont was ordered to spend 12 months in prison, with three years of probation after her release, according to Paper, which had a reporter present at the time of her sentencing. Judge Naomi Buchwald also ordered that Clermont come up with $5,000 in restitution and a $100 fine for “special assessment.” While giving out her sentence, the judge stated that Clermont wrongly “chose to steal the victim’s credit card information without calling 911.”

To recap, Clermont met the deceased man on a “prostitution” date and was present when he became incapacitated from substance abuse. Instead of calling 911, she left, amassing $20,000 of purchases with his money, from paying rent to buying luxury clothes and plane tickets—and making wire transfers to her own bank account via fraudulent e-mails that were sent in his name. When the man was found dead on February 1, 2017, there was alcohol and fentanyl-laced cocaine in his system.

The man’s sister spoke out in his defense at the sentencing, saying that as “my brother died, Ms. Clermont went shopping.” The judge reportedly described Clermont’s actions as a “failure of character.”

While Clermont ended up with a yearlong prison sentence, she had a high-profile lawyer arguing her case: Jeffrey Lichtman, whose clients also include El Chapo and his drug-trafficking case. Her defense hinged on her character outside of this incident, which included a clean criminal record prior to these charges. Her lawyer also reportedly claimed that Clermont didn’t call 911 because she didn’t think the victim was in “great distress.” Her lawyer added that if she had thought he was dying, she would have acted differently and called the authorities.

After news broke that Clermont pled guilty, back in November, the twins posted an Instagram story to their combined account that said, “I stand on my toes. Any b-tch in my situation would have been fold.”