SAN FRANCISCO — A United States District Court judge declared a Discovery Bay pilot guilty of making false statements on medical-certification forms to the Federal Aviation Administration, a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said Tuesday.

In a half-day bench trial, 34-year-old Nicholas Beyer was found guilty of two counts of making false statements to the FAA and two counts of falsifying, concealing or covering up material facts.

In airman medical-certificate applications submitted to the FAA in 2016 and 2018, Beyer said he had never been diagnosed with or had any mental disorders, despite a major depressive disorder diagnosis in 2016 from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Evidence showed Beyer also said on the applications that he was only receiving disability benefit pay from the department for knee and back injuries, but he was also receiving benefits for his diagnosis. After a federal grand jury indicted Beyer on August 23, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer found him guilty and set a sentencing hearing for April 22.

Although he could face penalties of five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine plus possible restitution for each count, any court-imposed sentence would take into account sentencing guidelines and statutes.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Ward prosecuted the case, which came from an investigation by the U.S. Deparment of Transportation and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ offices of inspector generals, with help from Hector Lopez.

Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.