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Investigations

Date

Two Construction Company Executives Sentenced for Violating the Sherman Antitrust Act Affecting the Concrete Market in Iowa

On February 8, Steve VandeBrake, Executive of GCC Alliance Concrete, Inc., was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Sioux Falls, Iowa, to 48 months imprisonment followed by 500 hours of community service, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $829,715 in fines.  On the same day, Kent Stewart, President of Great Lakes Concrete, Inc., was also sentenced to serve twelve months and one day in prison, followed by 100 hours of community service, three years of supervised release, fined $83,427 and ordered to pay $25,918 in restitution for their role in a scheme to manipulate the concrete market.  Both Mr. VandeBrake and Mr. Stewart were ordered to self surrender to the U.S. Marshal's Service by February 11, 2011.

As early as January 2006, and continuing as late as August 2009, Mr. VandeBrake conspired with Chad Van Zee, President, Tri-State Ready Mix, to fix ready-mix concrete prices sold in the Northern District of Iowa, by engaging in meetings to discuss agreements on pricing the concrete to be sold by their respective companies. The concrete, equipment and materials used to produce and move the concrete, and payments for the concrete, traveled in interstate commerce.

This was a joint investigation with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office-Antitrust Division and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division's Chicago Field Office.