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 U.S. Department of Justice.
- Weatherford, Oklahoma-based Sioux Erosion Control, its vice president B.G. Dale Biscoe and estimator Randy Shelton allegedly conspired with competitors to raise and maintain prices on their products and services from September 2017 to April 2023, while dividing up contracts and rigging bids on jobs across Oklahoma, according to the release.
- The alleged conspiracy targeted over $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts across the state, according to the DOJ. In addition to conspiring to raise prices for sod, the department alleges that the defendants and their co‑conspirators agreed to divide up contracts across different areas of Oklahoma and rigged bids for particular projects by submitting intentionally high-priced bids or outright refusing to bid.
Dive Insight:
B.G. Biscoe, Shelton and Sioux are being charged with a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which carries a maximum penalty for individuals of up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. Corporations face a maximum fine of $100 million.
In its release, the DOJ stressed that an indictment is merely an allegation, and that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
But it also said four other individuals, including a former Sioux employee, had previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the alleged conspiracy, as outlined in a February news release from the agency. Those individuals have not yet been sentenced, according to DOJ.
Sioux Erosion Control supplies sod, bale barriers, straw waddles and other materials and services to control runoff of soil on highway construction and repair projects, according to its website. Sioux Erosion Control President Allison Biscoe said that the company and its executives are innocent.
“Sioux Erosion Control, B.G. Biscoe and Randy Shelton entered pleas of 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 Office of Inspector General and FBI 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.
