Md. Woman Sentenced In $30M Contract Fraud
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A Maryland woman who was the nominal president of a contracting firm and who pleaded guilty to falsely presenting a company as a minority-owned business has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Forty-eight-year-old Dawn Hamilton of Brownsville, Md. was also ordered to forfeit more than $1.2 million at sentencing Friday.
According to court documents, Hamilton's company, Security Assistance Corp., obtained security contracts from government agencies by representing itself as a disadvantaged small business, giving it preferential treatment in bidding for contracts. Hamilton, a woman of Portuguese descent, qualified for preferential status under rules set by the Small Business Administration.
But Hamilton was essentially a figurehead and her company was controlled by Keith Hedman.
Hedman pleaded guilty in March to contract fraud. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
