Mobile man gets two years for using hotel jobs to commit fraud

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former hotel manager to two years in prison – the minimum punishment – for a scheme to commit fraud using confidential information.

Brandon Thomas Canady, 31, of Mobile, pleaded guilty in January to aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and accessing a protected computer in furtherance of a fraudulent scheme. Senior U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade ordered that Canady be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years after his release from prison.

Canady worked as a front office and assistant general manager at two different hotels in 2020 and 2021. He admitted to using his access to the computer system at the Hilton Garden Inn downtown to create and use house accounts, bill an unsuspecting guest and then refund the same accounts to debit cards associated with his account.

The hotel fired him for failing to show up for work, but Canady continued to access its computer system to continue the fraud, according to his plea agreement. He admitted that he would go to the hotel at about midnight and tell employees he had not been able to retrieve schoolwork or other documents before the company fired him, and that he would use employee’s names and passwords to access the system.

Canady stole $39,165, most of it after his firing, according to the plea document. Later, he admitted, he got a job as assistant manager of Homewood Suites in Mobile and committed a similar fraudulent scheme. The loss to the Homewood Suites totaled $3,748 between Feb. 15 and April 24 last year.

Canady’s attorney submitted 14 character letters on his behalf from relatives, former teachers and other acquaintances.

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