United States v. West Coast Aluminum Heat Treating Co. June Fitch

West Coast Aluminum Heat Treating Company (“West Coast”) appeals the sentence imposed by the district court following its conviction of six counts of making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and one count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . We conclude that the district court did not err in utilizing a loss calculation based on the government’s net profit analysis, and we affirm.

I

Someone at West Coast took the aphorism “it’s good enough for government work” a bit too seriously. West Coast contracted with the United States Department of Defense and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration to heat treat, age and test aluminum alloy parts for use in military aircraft and weaponry. In the normal course of events, West Coast would expose the parts to high temperatures in a furnace to attain specified strength and corrosion resistance, then quench the parts quickly in liquid to lock the alloy into its desired solid solution condition. West Coast would then age the parts by subjecting them to high temperatures for a specified period of time ranging from four to 24 hours. After aging the parts, West Coast would perform hardness and electrical…