Former Maryland National Guard Employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground Sentenced to Prison in Fraud Scheme with Losses of More Than $107,000 

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Lynn Carol Williams, age 56, of Middle River, Marylan,d today to six months in prison, followed by six months of home detention with electronic monitoring as part of three years of supervised release, for wire fraud in connection with a scheme to misuse the Freestate Challenge Academy corporate purchasing card, causing losses of more than $107,000. Freestate Challenge Academy is a Maryland National Guard program located at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Judge Bennett also ordered Williams to pay restitution of $107,493.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service-Mid-Atlantic Field Office; and Chief Chip Honan of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Police Department.

According to her plea agreement, from October 2007 through February 2011, Williams worked as an administrative aide at Freestate Challenge Academy, located at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Williams was authorized to use the Academy’s corporate credit card to make purchases for the Academy and was required to prepare a monthly expense report, which included the purchasing card billing statement, original receipts, copies of the approved requisition forms, and a log of activity on the purchasing card. Once her supervisor approved the expense report, it was forwarded to the State of Maryland Military Department, which paid the account balance on the corporate purchasing card.

Williams admitted that from February 2008 through October 2010, she used the corporate credit card to buy gift cards and to purchase items over the Internet for her personal use. For example, on May 18, 2010, Williams used the corporate credit card to purchase six gift cards, which she then used to pay for two airline tickets for her and a friend to travel to Los Angeles, California. To conceal her fraud, Williams prepared false logs of the card activity and used her work computer to prepare fictitious receipts, to give the impression she was using the card to make legitimate purchases on behalf of the program, such as for office supplies, snacks for program participants, and other legitimate items.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Aberdeen Proving Ground Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Joyce K. McDonald, who prosecuted the case.