Guilty Plea Made in Defense Fraud Case

A former Northrop Corp. engineer pleaded guilty Monday to participating in a defense fraud conspiracy and admitted that he helped fake test results on critical stabilization systems for the Navy’s Harrier jet.

Howard Hyde, 48, of Yorba Linda, who was a senior engineer in an arm of Northrop’s Precision Products Division in the San Gabriel Valley, acknowledged in federal court that he helped falsify vibration test results for 189 rate sensor assemblies Northrop made for the Harrier fighter-bomber jets, which were built by McDonnell Douglas Corp.

The government paid $1.6 million for the rate sensor assemblies to stabilize the jet, which is capable of vertical takeoffs and landings like a helicopter.

Hyde, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of making false statements to the government, faces up to 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Pamela Rymer on Aug. 21.

Hyde worked for Northrop’s Western Services Department, which was located in El Monte and later in Pomona and was closed in late 1987 in the wake of revelations of the falsified tests.