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Dive Brief:
- A federal grand jury indicted an Oklahoma infrastructure construction company and two of its employees for an alleged $100 million price-fixing scheme, according to a news release from the US Department of Justice.
- Sioux Erosion Control, based in Weatherford, Okla., its Vice President BG Dale Biscoe and Estimator Randy Shelton allegedly conspired with competitors to raise and maintain the prices of their products and services from September 2017 to April of 2023, while splitting contracts and manipulating job offers. Oklahoma, according to the release.
- According to the DOJ, the alleged conspiracy targeted more than $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts across the state. In addition to conspiring to inflate turf prices, the department alleges that the defendants and their co-conspirators agreed to split contracts among different areas of Oklahoma and manipulated bids for specific projects by submitting bids that were intentionally expensive or directly refusing to bid.
Diving knowledge:
BG Biscoe, Shelton and Sioux are charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. Corporations face a maximum fine of $100 million.
In its statement, the DOJ emphasized that an indictment is only an allegation and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But he also said four other individuals, including a former Sioux employee, had it previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the alleged conspiracy, as described in a February news release from the agency. Those people have not yet been sentenced, according to the DOJ.
Sioux Erosion Control supplies turf, bullet barriers, straw and other materials and services to control soil runoff on highway construction and repair projects, according to its website. Sioux Erosion Control President Allison Biscoe said the company and its executives are innocent.
“Sioux Erosion Control, BG Biscoe and Randy Shelton pleaded not guilty and will vigorously defend the charges,” Allison Biscoe wrote in a statement to Construction Dive. “We are proud of the high quality soil erosion service we have provided and continue to provide in Oklahoma.”
The Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office investigated the case, according to the release.
“Violations of the nation’s antitrust laws will be taken seriously, and those who circumvent federal bidding and contract regulations will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph Harris of the DOT-OIG, Southern Region.
