BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Circuit Judge Chris Speaks has found Elmore County resident Dusty Devaughn guilty of filing a false identity theft report to the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. Devaughn has been ordered to pay fines and court costs associated, but there was no jail time given. The decision was handed down this morning at a bench trial at the Elmore County Courthouse.
Many will know Devaughn as the founder of the proposed USA Academy.
The Elmore/Autauga News reached out to Devaughn by phone today, and he said he will appeal this morning’s judgement of guilt. “This is just the beginning,” he said. He added that he will work on an official statement. When received, we will publish the statement in its entirety.
Devaughn represented himself in court this morning at the Elmore County Courthouse, according to Mandy Johnson, with the Elmore County District Attorney’s Office. Johnson serves as the Senior Assistant DA, Chief of Staff and was the prosecutor on this case. She said that Devaughn did not take the stand in his own defense.
Initially the case was given to Judge Glenn Goggans, who recused himself. The case was heard by Chilton County Circuit Judge Chris Speaks.
Major Ogden with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office told the EAN that Devaughn filed a report in July of last year claiming his identity had been stolen. He reportedly told investigators that multiple credit cards were opened in his name that he claimed he did not open.
“He told investigators he had never even heard of some of the companies and credit cards,” Johnson said.
“Through our investigation, we found that at least two of those claims were not legitimate,” Ogden told the EAN.
According to Mandy Johnson, in court this morning it was shown that the accounts were opened up by Devaughn, using his own driver’s license and/or that of his wife. His wife was not included in any charges relating to the false report.
Devaughn’s dream of USA Academy was a proposed school for athletes that he originally wanted to locate in Coosada on land owned by his family. The announcement made the rounds through national and local media.
Plans for that school stalled last year as some employees hired to fill positions left not long after they were announced. The school failed to move forward, and then COVID became a reality. The website was taken down. Devaughn stopped hosting press conferences or speaking on the record about the plans for the school.
The EAN has reached out to Devaughn several times over the past months regarding the status of USA Academy. He would not speak in detail on the record, other than to say the school could still happen.
Shortly after the first announcement was made that USA Academy was coming to Coosada, Devaughn held several press events introducing coaches and administrators that would serve at the Academy. All of those have since departed from USA Academy, some complaining about several issues, including not getting paid what was promised.
Some of the coaches introduced included Rush Probst, Kenyatta Watson, and CJ Harris who is now working for Marbury High School athletics as the offensive coordinator.
In relation to COVID, USA Academy filed for assistance for COVID Relief and received $92,300 from the Paycheck Protection Program. We asked Devaughn several months ago about how that money was spent, and if the school was even still active. While he did say the money was used for payroll, it is not clear what employees remained when the check was distributed.
We are often asked by readers what became of USA Academy, and we are very interested in updating the status.
On the official website that lists payouts across the country, in Alabama USA Academy received $92,300, with the use of the money being stated as payroll. That link can be found at https://data.clarionledger.com/paycheck-protection-program-loans/?state=Alabama&searchtext=USA+Academy
We want to make it clear there has been no official accusation that USA Academy was wrong in filing for funds, and that has nothing to do with his guilty verdict today for filing a false report on identity theft.
We will update this article as possible, and await Devaughn’s official statement on his guilty verdict and possible plans to appeal.
