A construction company, its vice president and another employee are accused of conspiring to fix prices for publicly funded transportation construction contracts in the US state of Oklahoma worth $100 million.
Image: US Department of JusticeVectorization: Ali Zifan, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A grand jury in a federal court in Oklahoma City issued an indictment in the case, which was unsealed yesterday (August 8).
According to court documents, Sioux Erosion Control, its vice president BG Dale Biscoe and his employee Randall David Shelton are accused of conspiring with their competitors in the erosion control industry to increase and maintain prices for products and services from approximately September 2017 through April 2023.
Erosion control products and services, including turf, are used to control soil or rock runoff during highway construction and repair projects.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice said that in addition to the alleged conspiracy to inflate turf prices, the defendants and their accomplices are accused of agreeing to split contracts among different areas in Oklahoma and manipulating bids for certain projects by intentionally submitting bids that were too high or outright rejecting bids.
Four people, including a former Sioux employee, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the charged conspiracy. Those individuals have not yet been sentenced.
Biscoe, Shelton and Sioux Erosion Control are charged with violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act. If convicted, the maximum penalty for individuals is 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The maximum penalty for corporations is a $100 million fine.
An accusation is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
