A former federal contractor is facing five years in prison after a D.C. jury convicted him Wednesday lying about doing background checks on Pentagon and federal workers seeking top-secret clearance.
George Abraham was convicted on six counts of lying to investigators. He was supposed to have interviewed associates of seven key government employees who were seeking top-secret clearance in sensitive positions in the Pentagon and Treasury Department. Instead, he didn’t conduct the interviews, or he cut them short and then lied to authorities about it, prosecutors charged. All of the employees were given clearance.
“This case is important because of the implications for national security,” prosecutor Ellen Epstein told The Examiner after the verdict. “False statements such as Mr. Abraham’s jeopardize the integrity of the background investigations.”
The jury deliberated nearly six hours, spread out over two days. Jurors acquitted Abraham of a seventh count of lying over the background check of a postal inspector.
Abraham admitted during his trial that he missed some of the interviews but claimed he hadn’t broken any laws. If he had cut some interviews off, he testified, it was because he was being pressured by supervisors to wrap things up quickly.
He was indicted earlier this year after the government conducted routine follow-up on Abraham’s background checks. Auditors say they quickly discovered that interviews and checks for dozens of employees hadn’t been finished.
The maximum sentence for each count is five years and his sentences will run concurrently. U.S. sentencing guidelines — which no longer have the force of law but are often used by judges as a rough outline — call for a slightly shorter maximum sentences.
Abraham will be sentenced early next year.
