Metallurgist gets 2.5 years for faking tests on sub parts

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — A metallurgist in Washington state was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and a $50,000 fine Monday after she spent decades faking the results of strength tests on steel that was being used to make U.S. Navy submarines. Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, of Auburn, Washington, was the director of metallurgy at a foundry that supplied steel castings used to make submarine hulls. From 1985 through 2017, Thomas falsified the results of toughness tests for about half the steel the foundry produced for the Navy. The Navy said it has spent nearly $14 million to assess the parts and risk to the 30 submarines affected.