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A metallurgist has pleaded guilty to an unthinkable crime that impacted our U.S. men and women who serve in uniform to defend the country.
67-year-old Elaine Marie Thomas admitted to committing fraud for decades by faking the results of strength tests on steel that was being used to make U.S. Navy submarines.
She worked in Auburn of Washington state where she was the director of metallurgy at a foundry.
The company supplied steel castings used by Navy contractors Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding to make submarine hulls.
The Justice Department says Thomas falsified the results of strength and toughness tests for at least 240 productions of steel from 1985 through 2017.
About half the steel the foundry produced for the Navy, according to her plea agreement.
The tests were intended to show that the steel would not fail in a collision or in certain “wartime scenarios.”
From Fox News:
There was no allegation that any submarine hulls failed, but authorities said the Navy had incurred increased costs and maintenance to ensure they remain seaworthy. The government did not disclose which subs were affected.
Thomas faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine when she is sentenced in February. However, the Justice Department said it would recommend a prison term at the low end of whatever the court determines is the standard sentencing range in her case.
In a statement filed in U.S. District Court on her behalf Monday, her attorney, John Carpenter, said Thomas “took shortcuts.”
“Ms. Thomas never intended to compromise the integrity of any material and is gratified that the government’s testing does not suggest that the structural integrity of any submarine was in fact compromised,” Carpenter wrote. “This offense is unique in that it was neither motivated by greed nor any desire for personal enrichment. She regrets that she failed to follow her moral compass – admitting to false statements is hardly how she envisioned living out her retirement years.”
