Military Plane Parts Conspiracy Alleged

Four men were charged Wednesday with taking part in a conspiracy to sell the Defense Department untested or improperly manufactured parts for military aircraft and ground-support systems.

The men are charged in Los Angeles federal court with conspiracy and making false statements to the federal government for allegedly claiming that parts machined at A & R Precision in South Gate had been made and tested according to required procedures when they had not.

The parts were used in the F-16, F-15, F-4 and A-7 aircraft, prosecutors said.

Charged in the six-count criminal information were Robert Cejka, 53, of Rolling Hills Estates, the firm’s president and co-owner; Alberto Herrera, 50, of Norwalk, the company’s foreman and co-owner; David Sedillo, 42, of South Gate, quality assurance manager, and Marshall Westermark, 39, of Whittier, who served as a quality assurance manager and production control supervisor.

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Cejka and Herrera directed employees to skirt government requirements that the parts be manufactured and tested according to certain specifications. Cejka and Herrera then had Sedillo and Westermark fabricate and submit documents purporting that the parts had been properly made and tested, the charges said.

The men used the alleged scheme to defraud the government on at least five contracts, the information said. One of the contracts supplied the F-111 aircraft with connecting links, a crucial part in landing and takeoffs because it controls the flaps and slats, the charges said.

“This item is safety critical in the flight control system,” the charges said.

Other contracts supplied assemblies used on runways to catch the tail-hooks of jet aircraft during emergency landings and aborted takeoffs, cartridges that guide the loading of rounds of ammunition onto the F-16, small pieces for exhaust nozzles of the F-15 and parts used to repair flame-holders in jet aircraft engines.