Six months after a federal jury in Savannah, Ga., Condemned two managers of the concrete supply companies prepared for a scheme of illegal offers and price fixation for a few years. , in Charleston, SC is where the contractors who bought the concrete press with their demand for eight -year class action to recover millions of dollars in alleged exceeded.
The contractors asked a federal judge last month to allow them to make depositions of the two managers of the mixed supply company, brothers who are now in prison. A recording device that looked like an electronic FOB that opens the car doors providing important tests against them.
The civil lawsuit, first filed in 2017, was held until the four -day trial of criminal burdens against the confidence and manipulation of the market against the Gregory brothers and David Melton ended last summer. Gregory Melton was the Manager of Sales of Sales of Mixes ready for Argos Ready Mix and based in Pooler, Ga. His brother was CEO of concrete Elite in Walhourville, Ga. By 2021 Argos agreed to a deferred persecution agreement, nor to guilty, however, by which he would pay the Justice Department a criminal fine of $ 20 million.
The meltons did not say guilty of the allegations against them personally and went to court. A federal judge sentenced them to prison in October. Three other accused individuals had declared guilt reasons as part of the agreements with the prosecutors.
What is still unclear is like the criminal evidence and testimony in the criminal case, which included more than 1,000 secret recordings of a six -year period made by a sales manager who worked for Gregory Melton, will be used In civil demand.
The companies involved served territories that included Savannah, Jonesboro and Statusboro in Georgia and the area of Hilton Head, SC.
The sales manager, Christopher Young, now manages his own combination supply company. But for many years he had worked as a sales manager of Lafarge, the giant of materials, until his unit was sold in Argos and continued with the same role he reported to Gregory Melton. Young, who specialized in criminal justice as a university student, became the main testimony against the meltons during last summer trial in Savannah.
Meltons’ lawyers portrayed Young as a displeased employee who hoped to make a lot of money, becoming a complainant, which the federal law entitles 10% to 30% of the illegally obtained funds that are recovered, as the case may be recovered.
“Because he made a lot of money,” insisted a Meltons lawyer who was Young’s motivation.
Young said he was concerned about routine conversations at the company’s offices. Prosecutors say illegal activity is included The fuel and environmental surcharges and letters of price increase sent by several competitors with the same prices at the same time. One of the conspirators served as an intermediate to communicate to other companies and hide cooperation, involved young people and prosecutors.
As it happened, young He testified, he felt that he needed to protect himself and his family in case he was involved in the manipulations of the illegal market.
“I had two children, one with special needs,” he said.
The prosecutors provided Young to a recording device that resembled an electric pocket of a car that could be easily handled and would not attract suspicion as a recording device. Young often testified, accidentally turned on the device, and he did not know -pieces of his ordinary family life without knowing.
But in various cases, the Savanah Jury, the discussions involved prices for different projects.
In a February 2012 conversation, Young activated his recording device while talking to James Pedrick, a cement seller and additives for Argos, which prosecutors accused of serving as intermediaries for sharing sensitive information. Young asked Pedrick about the price of the concrete cubic courtyard in a project.
Combination gamma telephone call sets
Young asked if “David goes up?” with its price. After Pedrick replied that he is, Young continued: “Because he is right now.” Pedrick then says in the recording that David Melton called him while at a sales meeting and wanted to know what his brother charged to discuss the project. David Melton “called Greg and Greg said somewhere between 85 and 88 … that is where to go. Or where we will go.”
The federal prosecutors chose not to support a complainant claim with Young as a complainant, and in 2016 Argos after learning about the investigation, he fired Young. The criminal case appeared for several years.
But by 2020, a great federal jury first filed criminal accusations of illegal prices. The prosecutors accused the meltons and pedrick and a supply company ready, Evans concrete, with violation of the anti-confidence federal law from 2010 to 2016. In September, Pedrick and Evans concrete each one committed to a single count of illegal manipulation of prices as part of agreements with prosecutors.
No Melton’s brother took the witness’s position and testified in his own defense at the criminal trial. In addition to attacking Young’s reasons, meltons lawyers implied that recordings were taken out of the context, that pricing information was not secret and that numerous factors affect prices and prices.
David Melton received a 26 -month prison sentence, three years of supervised release and a fine of $ 10,000. Gregory Melton was sentenced to 41 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a fined of $ 50,000. The two brothers began to fulfill their sentences on December 31 in federal prisons, David in Montgomery, Ala. And Gregory in Lexington, Kentucky.
The main plaintiffs in the civilian action demand consist of Pro SLAB INC., Bremer Construction Management and Forrest concrete. As they ask that the meltons now deposit, the lawyer’s lawyers argued in the January motion that “there is no basis … to limit the requested discovery”.
