National City

A jury in U.S. District Court convicted a National City defense contractor and its top executive Monday of conspiring to defraud the federal government of $1.5 million by systematically falsifying time sheets for boiler repair work.

The jury found Marine Boiler Repair Inc. and its chief administrator, Stephanie Cardoza of San Diego, guilty on 80 of 88 counts in an indictment filed last year after a two-year investigation.

Court documents say Marine Boiler Repair was a subcontractor performing boiler repairs on dozens of Navy ships docked in San Diego, including the aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk, Constellation and Ranger. Prosecutors charged that Marine routinely falsified records to allocate workers’ hours to jobs subject to government audit, regardless of where the employees actually worked.

Assistant U.S. Atty. William Braniff said documents detailing the transfer of hours among jobs were introduced as evidence supporting the charges.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The Justice Department also has filed a civil suit seeking to recoup wrongful payments to the company.