A former senior executive of a Michigan asphalt paving company was sentenced to six months in prison and a $500,000 fine for his role in multiple conspiracies to rig bids for asphalt paving services contracts in Michigan.
Bruce F. Israel, former vice-president of Pontiac-based Asphalt Specialists LLC (ASI), pleaded guilty in January 2024 to conspiring with Al’s Asphalt Paving Company Inc. (Al’s Asphalt), F. Allied Construction Company Inc. (Allied), and employees from those companies to rig bids in each other’s favor.
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Israel was charged on Wednesday (June 25) and is one of seven individuals who have been charged as part of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the asphalt paving services industry.
Three companies have also been charged as part of the investigation, which to date has resulted in over $8.7 million in criminal fines.
According to court documents, the co-conspirators coordinated each other’s bid prices so that the agreed-upon losing company would submit intentionally non-competitive bids.
Those bids gave customers the false impression of competition when, in fact, the co-conspirators had already decided among themselves who would win the contracts.
Court documents revealed that Israel participated in the conspiracy with Al’s Asphalt from March 2013 to November 2018 and in the Allied conspiracy from July 2017 to May 2021.
Israel’s former employer, ASI, also pleaded guilty to its participation in the Al’s Asphalt and Allied conspiracies in January 2024.
Another former ASI executive, Daniel Israel, pleaded guilty to his participation in the conspiracy with Al’s Asphalt in October 2023, and a third former ASI executive, Timothy Baugher, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Allied conspiracy in January 2025.
ASI was sentenced in August 2024 to pay a fine of $6.5 million.
The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office and the Offices of Inspectors General for the Department of Transportation and U.S. Postal Service investigated the case.
The Antitrust Division’s Chicago Office is prosecuting the case.
Anyone with information in connection with this investigation is asked to contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak-Up.
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