Arlington man who led government fraud scheme is sentenced to 6 years Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Faulconer said in court that Hedman's scheme "was unparalleled in its breath, its depth and its scope." During the hearing in federal district court in Alexandria, Hedman said he knew his actions were wrong but convinced himself that it was okay because the contracts brought work for his employees. I guess I just justified in my head through all of this that I was helping out friends and co-workers," Hedman said. Defense lawyers wrote in court filings that Hedman's crimes were an "aberration from his otherwise exemplary life." The decorated Marine and father of two daughters pleaded guilty in March to major fraud against the United States and conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official. Seven others have pleaded guilty in connection with the case, and two men who worked for Hedman were sentenced last week. Joseph Richards, 52, who prosecutors called Hedman's "right-hand man," received a prison term of two years and three months, and David Lux, 66, another executive, received a term of one year and three months. According to court filings from prosecutors and defense lawyers, Hedman was the owner of Protection Strategies Inc., or PSI, a security consulting firm which at one time was eligible for contracts designated for minority-owned businesses because it had an African American woman listed as its chief executive. When she left in 2003, Hedman set up a shell company called Security Assistance Corp., or SAC, and installed a minority woman as its figure­head owner to win the same work, according to the filings. Hedman and others were paid more than $31 million to do work for NASA, the Coast Guard, the Defense Department and other agencies, and the work they did was satisfactory, prosecutors wrote. The contracts, though, were supposed to go to minority-owned small businesses. Prosecutors said Hedman pocketed more than $1.5 million for himself. Judge Gerald Bruce Lee noted that the government got the work it paid for but said the scheme "cheated legitimate small-business enterprises." Hedman, too, admitted bribing the Federal Protective Service's former regional director for the National Capital Region to help win contracts, court filings show. In court, Faulconer called Hedman "a good businessman." "In the end," the prosecutor said, "he was also a good criminal."