A federal jury on Wednesday convicted William and Donald Turley, father and son respectively, of using the family manufacturing business to bilk the National Security Agency out of nearly $1.5 million, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
A third family member, Christina Turley Knott, previously admitted to participating in the scheme and also to embezzling $4.6 million from the Turley business — the Bechdon Co., located in Upper Marlboro — behind the backs of her father and brother.
Bechdon made metal and plastic parts for the NSA. The Turleys purposely overbilled the agency for hours that were never worked for more than a decade, according to prosecutors, while Knott, 50, also stole from the company. She pleaded guilty in November to failing to pay taxes on her illegal gains and of conspiring to defraud the NSA.
The Turleys face the potential of decades in prison at their sentencings. Knott, who lives in Edgewater, is set to be sentenced Feb. 21. Her father, William Turley, 71, of Annapolis and brother, Donald Turley, 54, of Owings Mills, are scheduled for sentencing March 2.