A former senior executive of a Michigan asphalt paving company was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison and a $500,000 fine for his role in a multiyear conspiracy to rig bids for asphalt paving services contracts in Michigan.
Daniel L. Israel, former president of Pontiac-based Asphalt Specialists LLC (ASI), pleaded guilty in October 2023 to conspiring with Al’s Asphalt Paving Company Inc. (Al’s Asphalt) and employees from those companies to rig bids in each other’s favour.
Israel is one of seven individuals 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 $8.2 million in criminal fines.
“Economic crime — like bid rigging — is no less harmful than violent crime,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Both inflict deep, lasting harm on our communities and disenfranchise those who believe in the American dream.”
“This sentencing marks an important milestone in holding accountable those responsible for this flagrant bid rigging scheme,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony Licari of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG), Midwestern Region.
“The Postal Service maintains thousands of competitively bid contracts with private vendors to support its massive operation,” said Tammy Hull, U.S. Postal Service Inspector General. “Criminal activities such as bid rigging are a serious offense that undermine the principles of fair competition and harm our communities.”
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.
These bids gave customers the false impression of competition when, in fact, the co-conspirators had already decided among themselves who would win the contracts. Israel participated in the conspiracy from March 2013 through November 2018.
Israel’s former employer, ASI, and another former ASI executive also pleaded guilty in January 2024 for their participation in the conspiracy with Al’s Asphalt.
Al’s Asphalt and two of its executives previously pleaded guilty in January and October 2024 for their participation in the conspiracy. ASI was sentenced in August 2024 to pay a fine of $6,500,000.
