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Subcontractor Sentenced for Faking Hours Worked
Baltimore, Maryland – A former subcontractor for the Department of Defense (DOD) has been sentenced to prison time for submitting false claims of hours worked, according to official records.
Melissa Heyer, 46, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for her role in submitting false claims to the United States.
Heyer was also ordered to pay $107,300 in restitution, the court ruled. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge George L. Russell, III.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner, Elton Howell, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations (Acting) of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)- Office of Inspector General (OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Mid-Atlantic Field Office.
According to her plea agreement, Heyer worked for Company A, a subcontractor for Company B, providing employees that performed national security duties for the DOD. From January 2017 until March 2019, Heyer worked for Company A but was assigned on a day-to-day basis to work for the DOD on national security matters at the National Security Agency (NSA), in Fort Meade, Maryland.
Heyer held a Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance and performed her duties for Company A and the DOD at a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) at the NSA facility where she worked. She used a badge reader to gain access to the SCIF.
However, on at least five occasions between January 2017 and March 2019, Heyer falsely represented to her employer that she had been working at the NSA SCIF when she was actually elsewhere. This resulted in false claims being submitted to the DOD, causing the government to pay more than $100,000 to Company A, Company B, and Heyer, to which they and Heyer were not entitled.
As a result, Heyer knowingly caused the government to be billed for more than 1,200 hours of her time when she had actually not worked.
The investigation was praised by Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner, who thanked the DIA OIG and DCIS for their work on the case, as well as the U.S. CYBERCOM Office of Inspector General for its assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Gruber prosecuted the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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