Man Gets 4-Year Term in B-1 Contract Fraud

A former Rockwell International supervisor was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles to four years in prison for running a sham machine shop that received Rockwell subcontracts for B1-B bomber parts.

U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter imposed the sentence and a $12,000 fine on Ralph Affinito, 49, of Rolling Hills Estates. Affinito, a former Rockwell purchasing department supervisor, pleaded guilty in July to three felonies in connection with the scheme.

Affinito’s sham shop, Draw Industries, received 48 subcontracts worth more than $430,000 from Rockwell’s purchasing department beginning in 1982.

As a company supervisor, Affinito authorized Rockwell’s approval of Draw as a subcontractor and “systematically directed contracts to Draw by revealing confidential bidding information to his partner (at Draw),” Assistant U.S. Atty. John F. Walsh said.

Draw did no machine work for Rockwell. Its subcontracts on the B1-B bomber were farmed out to other machine shops.