Man pleads guilty to selling defective parts to military

A former Columbus bodybuilder admitted today in federal court that he sold defective self-locking nuts to the U.S. Department of Defense for use in military aircraft.

A nine-count indictment said that Martin Dale Geyer, 53, supplied counterfeit nuts, bolts and screws to the military in 2009 through Wellworth Fastener Products, a company he ran out of his Renner Road home. Invoices that Geyer submitted for payment said the parts met government specifications, but they did not, the indictment said.

As part of an agreement, Geyer pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for shipping the defective nuts to the military, one count of possession of anabolic steroids and one count of possessing a firearm while using a controlled substance. He also agreed to pay restitution of $41,340.

Investigators found the steroids, nine firearms and 3,000 rounds of ammunition when they searched Geyer’s home in Norwich Township in 2010, said Michael E. Hampp, special agent with the defense department’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

Hampp said the defective parts were considered “critical application items” and also were used in nuclear power plants.

Geyer’s plea hearing was postponed earlier in the year after his attorney asked that he be evaluated by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist concluded that Geyer had no mental disease and was competent to participate in court proceedings, Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King said.

Geyer now lives in Wentworth, Ga.

He could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine on the mail-fraud charge, a year in prison and a fine of $100,000 on the steroid-possession charge, and 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on the firearms charge.

According to FedSpending.org, a website that tracks federal contracts, Wellworth had $157,285 in federal contracts in 2009.

Geyer would not comment after the court hearing. No date has been set for his sentencing.

Original article:   http://www.dispatch.com