Skip to main content
Press Release

Former President of Asphalt Paving Company Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

The former president of a Michigan-area asphalt paving company pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids for asphalt paving services contracts in Michigan.

According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, Daniel Israel, along with other individuals working for the company where Israel was formerly the president, conspired with another asphalt paving company and its employees to rig bids in each other’s favor. The conspiracy began at least as early as March 2013 and continued until at least as late as November 2018. Under the terms of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators coordinated each other’s bid prices so that the agreed-upon losing company would submit intentionally non-competitive bids. These bids gave customers the false impression of competition when, in fact, the co-conspirators already had decided among themselves who would win the contracts.

Israel pleaded guilty to one count of violating Section One of the Sherman Act. The maximum penalty for individuals who violate Section One of the Sherman Act is 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Israel is the third individual to plead guilty as a result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the asphalt paving services industry being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the Offices of Inspectors General for the Department of Transportation and U.S. Postal Service. Over a two week span in August, a company and two of its executives also pleaded guilty in this investigation.

Anyone with information in connection with this investigation should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, or visit www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.

Updated October 31, 2023

Topic
Antitrust
Press Release Number: 23-1203