Edgewater Woman Sentenced for Defrauding NSA

A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland sentenced an Edgewater woman to 15 months in prison followed by one year of home detention for (NSA) of nearly $1.5 million.

According to a release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office, Christina Turley Knott, 51, of Edgewater, worked in her father’s business, Bechdon Company, and instructed at least four employees to overcharge the NSA for services provided by the business.

Knott’s father and brother, William and Donald Turley, were sentenced to 18 months in prison .

From 1997 to 2008, the company manufactured metal and plastic parts for various contracts, including for the NSA. The Turley men and Knott told employees to fabricate the number of hours they worked on NSA projects by increasing the true time spent on projects, according to the release.

“Today’s sentencing of [Knott] and last week’s sentencing of her father and brother … show that after starting a business and successfully contracting with the government, they forgot that being honest in billing is equally important to providing a good product,” said Robert Craig, special agent in charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Unit, according to the release.

As the company's bookkeeper, Knott also embezzled approximately $4.5 million by writing checks to herself that were drawn to company accounts. She was fired from Bechdon in 2005 when her activity was discovered by the business, according to the release.

“Christina Knott did not report the embezzled funds as income on her 2003 or 2004 federal income tax returns, for a total tax loss of $1,042,297,” according to the release.