Pittsburgh Defense Contractor Convicted on More Than a Dozen Counts of Wire and Tax Fraud by Federal Jury

PITTSBURGH, PA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Western), published as received.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After approximately two hours of deliberation, a federal jury in Pittsburgh has found Donald Smith guilty of 13 counts of violating federal fraud and tax laws, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

Smith, 75, of Pittsburgh was tried before United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan, with the jury finding Smith guilty of eight counts of wire fraud and five counts of failing to file a corporate tax return.

The evidence presented to the jury during the five-day trial showed that Smith engaged in a scheme to defraud the Defense Logistics Agency, which provides material to all branches of the United States military. The scheme caused the United States to make payments of over one million dollars on products that were not what Smith and those with whom he worked promised to provide. Smith did not file corporate tax returns reporting any of the more than one million dollars in payments his company received during the tax years of 2019 through 2023.

For each count of wire fraud on which Smith was convicted, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment, a fine of not more than the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary loss from the offense, or both. On each of the tax counts, the law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to one year of imprisonment, a fine of no more than $100,000 or twice the gain from the offense, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The Court will schedule sentencing by further order.

Assistant United States Attorneys William Guappone and Barbara K. Doolittle prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Smith.