Joseph Powell, a former employee of Huntington Ingalls Industries division Newport News Shipbuilding, pleaded guilty to making a false statement regarding weld inspections performed on vessels such as Virginia-class submarines and aircraft carriers. From approximately December 2015 through June 2016, Powell certified weld joint inspections without conducting the requisite inspection protocol. A re-inspection of weld joints certified by Powell revealed that a number of them were unsatisfactory and required repair. The estimated loss to the government attributable to Powell’s false certifications was approximately $43,500.