Former Sandia Labs employee pleads guilty in fraud case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A former Sandia National Laboratories worker accused of creating a phoney company to defraud the New Mexico facility of more than $2 million has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors say 55-year-old Carla Sena of Santa Rosa will be sentenced at a later date.

A federal grand jury indicted Sena last month on 11 counts including wire fraud, major fraud against the U.S. and money laundering.

Most of the lab’s work involves research, development and maintenance of nuclear weapons.

A former procurement officer, Sena was tasked in 2010 with overseeing the bidding for a $2.3 million contract for moving services.

The indictment accused Sena of preparing a bid for a company under someone else’s name and leveraging other bidders’ information to ensure herself the winning bid.