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The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Transportation Department announced another person has pleaded guilty in Oklahoma in a $100 million bid rigging scandal.
The announcement is as follows:
On February 27, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, Stanley Mark Smith, an erosion control company owner, pleaded guilty to rigging bids and fixing prices as part of a conspiracy targeting over $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts across Oklahoma.
Roy Henry Heinrich, an owner and officer of another company, pleaded guilty on December 4, 2023. Ryan Ashley Sullivan, an owner and executive of a third company, pleaded guilty on November 6, 2023. James Travis Feazel, a former operations manager of a fourth company, pleaded guilty on September 26, 2023. Each of the four defendants pleaded guilty to a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
According to court documents, Smith, Heinrich, Sullivan, Feazel, and others conspired to rig bids, fix prices, and allocate contracts for erosion control products and services. Starting in 2017, Smith, Heinrich, Sullivan, Feazel, and their co-conspirators agreed to raise prices and divvy up contracts across different areas of Oklahoma.
As part of this criminal conspiracy, they often sent intentionally high-priced bids or outright refused to bid. Smith—whose company targeted over $42 million worth of contracts—and Feazel—whose company targeted over $50 million worth of contracts—continued conspiring into April 2023. Heinrich—whose company targeted over $7 million worth of contracts—was part of the conspiracy until at least July 2021, and Sullivan was part of the conspiracy until at least April 2019.
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the FBI.
The post Fourth individual pleads guilty to bid rigging and price fixing in investigation of Oklahoma Transportation construction contractors first appeared on Oklahoma Energy Today.
