Aircraft Parts Contractor Sentenced to Prison

An aircraft parts contractor was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison and his mother was placed on four months of home detention Tuesday for cheating on government performance requirements at their family-owned business in La Mirada.

Eugene Fitch Jr., 33, was in charge of operations at West Coast Aluminum Heat Treating Co., where parts for everything from Boeing jetliners to the space shuttle were toughened by exposure to 900-degree temperatures.

Prosecutors charged that West Coast Aluminum treated the parts for shorter periods than required, allowing the company to boost production at the expense of safety.

Fitch pleaded guilty just after a Los Angeles federal court jury returned guilty verdicts last year against the company and his mother, June, 61, who served as corporate president.

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, federal judge Richard A. Paez also fined June Fitch $70,000 and West Coast Aluminum $1.6 million.

The Fitches had already sold the company to another firm, which assumed its liabilities, including any fines arising from the case, according to a prosecutor.