FORMER DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TIMEKEEPER SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR IN A FEDERAL PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING OVER $168,000 BY FALSIFYING OVERTIME RECORDS

Thomas A. Marino, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Alan B. Bottorf, 53, of Marysville was sentenced on Tuesday by the Honorable William W. Caldwell to serve one year in a yet to be determined federal institution. Bottorf pleaded guilty on July 27, 2006, in the United States District Court in Harrisburg to a charge of making false claims against the United States. The charge stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Defense Department’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Criminal Investigations Activity. A 2006 end-of-year reconciliation of overtime usage at the Defense Distribution Depot Susquehanna Place in New Cumberland revealed that Bottorf had received unusually large amounts of overtime pay when his supervisors could not recall his working much, if any, overtime. Records for the years 2003 through 2005 were reviewed, and Bottorf ultimately admitted that he had stolen his supervisor’s password, accessed his own accounts, and added the fraudulent overtime hours. Investigators determined that the total amount paid to Bottorf during this period based on his fraudulent entries was $168,719.19.

United States Attorney Marino praised the work of the investigators and stated that the sentence that was imposed was appropriate. Marino added, “Theft by an employee from his or her employer is a serious violation of trust. It is particularly so with public employees who also violate the public’s trust that they will discharge their duties honestly.”

The prosecution of this case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney William A. Behe.

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